Publisher's Weekly Review
The discovery of the body of Johann Karl Gurtner, a surgeon in his 70s, drives Hays's middling second whodunit featuring Swiss detectives Giuliana Linder and Renzo Donatelli (after 2022's Pesticide). The police believe Gurtner was struck in the face while walking his dog and pushed into Bern's Aare River, where he drowned. Giuliana and Renzo's investigation into Gurtner's family and friends uncovers a prickly man with complicated relationships, yet no one with obvious motives to harm him. Their primary suspect is Gurtner's photographer son, Markus, whose strained relationship with his father and troubled past raise suspicion that their contentious relationship could have turned violent. After a chance encounter, Markus befriends Jakob Amsler, a former classmate of his father's, who was among the Swiss children taken from their families and forced into indentured servitude years before. Markus's attempt to learn more about his father through Jakob's experiences uncovers long-buried secrets with tragic consequences that reverberate in the present day. The routine plot never builds momentum, and readers will struggle to keep track of the large cast of mostly broad, inconsequential characters. Fans of international police procedurals can safely take a pass. (Apr.)
Kirkus Review
Two members of the Bern, Switzerland, police force navigate their mutual attraction as they investigate the death of a dysfunctional family's patriarch in Hays' second series mystery. Johann Karl Gurtner takes his dachshund, Polo, for a walk in the Swiss capital; a few hours later, the 72-year-old surgeon's corpse is floating in the Aare River. When police investigator Renzo Donatelli arrives, the body has already been pulled from the water; Johann's bruises indicate "there was a bit of a punch-up." His wallet holds plenty of money, but his Piguet watch, "worth about forty thousand Swiss francs," and his dog are missing. Johann's son Markus photographed a man named Jakob Amsler as part of an assignment involving former "contract children"--Swiss youngsters taken away from allegedly unfit parents and forced into labor as recently as the 1970s. Jakob tells Markus that he knew Johann when they were young. Markus was rejected by his father his entire life; Johann preferred his oldest son, Patrick, who seems strangely composed regarding his dad's death. Det. Giuliana Linder meets with Philipp, Johann's son with his much younger second wife, but he seems more concerned about his missing dog than his dead father. Meanwhile, the romantic heat between Linder and Renzo, who are married to others, grows during the investigation. Over the course of the novel, Hays makes sure that the historical aspects of the story are as compelling as the murder mystery at its heart. The family drama--and it's a big family with a lot of drama---is consistently engaging and emphasizes the fact that the past is never truly past. The author's descriptions are often unexpected: A woman crosses "her mental fingers"; Giuliana's husband "scrunches" over to her side of a bed. Despite the inclusion of a list of characters' names and nicknames, some readers may find it difficult to keep track of them. A smart Swiss procedural that keeps its mystery ticking. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
