In Matto's Realm by
Friedrich Glauser
pbk out January 05
(Bitter Lemon Press)
at £8.99
This book is the second by Glauser to have appeared in Bitter Lemon Press's
welcome series of crime novels in translation. 'Thumbprint', also featuring the
likeable Sergeant Studer, was well-received, but 'In Matto's Realm' made it to the
shortlist for this year's CWA Gold Dagger for best mystery of the year. Quite an
achievement for an author who died nearly seventy years ago. Glauser was, by the
sound of it, as extraordinary a character as any of the people in his novels. A drug
addict with schizophrenia, he spent much time in psychiatric hospitals. No doubt this
is why the Bern psychiatric clinic featured in this story seems so authentic. Studer is
invited to assist by the clinic's deputy director after a child murderer escapes and the
director disappears. 'Matto' is the spirit of insanity that obsesses one of the patients
and Studer is drawn into a world where nothing is quite as it seems. First published in
serial form in 1936, this book remains eminently readable.
(
Martin Edwards
- author of the highly acclaimed Harry Devlin Mysteries)
In Matto's Realm by
Friedrich Glauser
