Death in Summer

Swiss author Theurillat makes his English-language debut with this polished novel, the welcome first in his Inspector Eschenbach series. When middle-aged banker Philipp Bettlach is shot dead at the 15th hole of a swanky Zurich golf course, Eschenbach, the experienced, unconventional, and intuitive chief of Zurich’s CID, investigates. Assisted by his trainee from the police academy, Claudio Jagmetti, he begins stripping layer after layer from a case that eventually reveals the banker’s shady side. A related murder in Basel raises the ante. Eschenbach’s disdain for bureaucracy and his tendency to concentrate on only one thing at a time play off effectively against Jagmetti’s youthful hero worship of him, and the investigation is occasionally leavened by the absurdity of Jagmetti’s falling hard for the victim’s pretty young girlfriend, who’s a prime suspect in the homicide. Wry humor provides some relief from the grimness of the crimes at the heart of the case. Those fond of sophisticated European police procedurals will enjoy this and look forward to Eschenbach’s next outing. (June)