At any price - Murder in the Discount

In the tranquil Nieder-Erlenbach a new BILLI supermarket is about to open. Not all residents of the Frankfurt suburb are particularly pleased about this, yet the construction of the discount store was not disrupted by major protests. But on the day before the grand opening of all things, two female employees are found dead. Smearings on the exterior façade initially suggest that this could be a protest action that got out of hand. But the very first investigations raise many questions that lead Chief Inspector Martin Schwaner and his team in ever new directions. Perhaps they are dealing with a relationship crime after all? Or is the perpetrator to be found in local politics after all? The solution to the case seems to be hidden somewhere in an almost impenetrable web of political and economic interests. But of course a Martin Schwaner is not discouraged by this...

"At any price" is after "Doppelmord" the second Frankfurt crime novel by Jakob Stein. While the first case of chief inspector Martin Schwaner with the Kleinmarkthalle as a crime scene was still located directly in downtown Frankfurt, this time it goes to Nieder-Erlenbach. But anyone who thinks that things are more tranquil here than in the centre of the Main metropolis is very much mistaken. Even though Schwaner and his girlfriend, the forensic pathologist Sandra Thielacker, walk through an almost eerily quiet suburb compared to, say, Old Sachsenhausen, this idyll is more than deceptive. The different directions in which Schwaner and his colleagues are led show that behind the bourgeois façade jealousy, frustration, greed and bribery prevail and even a small suburb like Nieder-Erlenbach is in no way inferior to Frankfurt in terms of crime.

Besides the actual investigative work, the book also takes time to let the characters have interesting discussions about the benefits or harms of large discount chains to retail just outside city centers, or even to briefly address the Blockupy movement. This and the small glimpses into the private life of the chief inspector add spice to the crime novel, which is garnished with a pleasant pinch of local color. Stein's descriptions of the actual places in Frankfurt and Nieder-Erlenbach are a little more discreet in his second book, but that makes them more effective. In this way, he builds up a coherent atmosphere which, while readers with local knowledge should find particularly enjoyable, can also be enjoyed by those crime fiction fans who know little or nothing about Frankfurt and its suburbs.

"At Any Price" is a very entertaining crime novel which is a pleasure to read and which, like "Doppelmord", you will literally devour. Of course, some typical clichés of the subject are served. And although there is some movement in the relationship between Schwaner and Sandra Thielacker, the characters could have used a little more development. But that's complaining on a high level, because the bottom line is that the book not only fulfills its entertainment mission quite excellently. It also makes you think about some aspects of the story for a longer time and discuss them well. So if you are simply looking for good crime entertainment with a bit of Frankfurt flair, or if you got a hankering for new Schwaner cases after "Doppelmord", you'll get a real bargain with "Um jeden Preis". Recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp