Winner of the German Crime Fiction Award In this second Black Forest Investigation, Chief Inspector Louise Boni returns from rehab at a Buddhist monastery after the events of the award-winning Zen and the Art of Murder.With a shaky grasp on her newfound sobriety, Boni resumes work with the criminal investigation department. Her first assignment, the probe of a fireman's death while battling the explosion of a secret underground weapons cache, reveals connections to both neo-Nazis and illegal arms dealers from the former Yugoslavia. But the sudden incursion of secret service agents into the scene indicates more far-reaching possibilities. Boni must come to grips with the dark forces behind the hidden munitions, the divided loyalties of a new partner, and the ghosts of her own past while trying to resolve the most challenging case of her career. "Its plot bristles with invention." — Barry Forshaw, Guardian "Oliver Bottini is...

Winner of the German Crime Fiction AwardLouise Boni drinks too much. The maverick inspector in Germany's Black Forest police squad is haunted by the mistakes she's made and the people she's lost. While she's dreading the approach of another lonely winter weekend, a call from her supervisor draws her into the most bizarre case of her career. A badly beaten Japanese monk is roaming the snowy Freiburg region with little more than sandals and a begging bowl, and the frightened holy man appears to be fleeing an unseen danger. Now Boni must battle both skeptical police authorities and her personal demons as her investigation reveals a hidden crime ring as well as a spiritual opportunity to transform her life. The first book in the Black Forest Investigation series, Zen and the Art of Murder is "a surprising and genuinely shocking case." — The Sunday Times (U.K.)"An exciting new voice in crime fiction emerges with Zen and the Art of Murder, the...