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Andrea Maria Schenkel - The Murder Farm
"... a concise and elegantly constructed story."
Synopsis:
The story is set in Germany and begins with the narrator returning to a village where she spent a summer with distant relatives at the end of the Second World War. She has idyllic memories of the place, but when she returns, the inhabitants talk to her freely about the horrific murder that had taken place on one of the farms.
The farmer, his wife, daughter, grandchildren and the new maid were all found brutally murdered. The account of each of the neighbours is written down in his or her own voice and it becomes apparent that there are several possible solutions. The narrator learns different things from each account and by the end, the truth as she sees it has slowly emerged. The story is interspersed with extracts from the commendation of the soul from the Last Rites of the Roman Catholic Liturgy.
Review:
This is a concise and elegantly constructed story.
By using the words of the players a description of life in the countryside in Germany after the war is cleverly revealed. The emotional undercurrents of an isolated community are beautifully brought out. This is much more telling and thought provoking than straightforward narrative.
It is a strange coincidence that this book is published in the United Kingdom in the wake of the chilling discoveries in an Austrian basement, Although the details are very different, some of the attitudes resonate with this story. A feeling of great sadness and waste is emphasised by the extracts from the Last Rites and it contributes to the tight construction of the book. I found this book much more than an average crime story. It moved me greatly.
Reviewed by: S.D.
CrimeSquad Rating:
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