Kommissar Andreas Rauscher ermittelt wieder! After the very special case about aircraft noise has cost not only a lot of nerves, but also his relationship with his girlfriend Elke, Rauscher is in a real crisis. He suffers from the separation from his son Mäxchen, whom Elke has taken with her to Hamburg. And the enormous heat burning down on summery Frankfurt is also making life difficult for him. No wonder he clashes with his colleagues more and more often and therefore prefers to investigate on his own. But Rauscher has to rethink this attitude when the caretaker of a Sachsenhausen apartment building is found murdered in the backyard. Because of all things Rauscher's stubborn uncle, who was thrown out of the house shortly before with an eviction suit, belongs to the narrow circle of suspects. But during the investigation it soon turns out that the other tenants would have had sufficient motives as well, since the sleazy manager apparently tried to disgust them out of their apartments on behalf of the landlady. The case gets even trickier when another murder occurs. Rauscher gets unexpected help from Jana Kern, a colleague from Königsstein, who soon seems to play a major role not only in this case but also in Rauscher's private life...
With "Abgerippt" Gerd Fischer has written another entertaining Frankfurt crime novel about the inspector whose name always makes for delighted faces, especially in Sachsenhausen. And as with the predecessor "Fluglärm" Fischer has again placed a very topical subject at the heart of the story. He was inspired by incidents from his personal environment, in which an acquaintance moved out of her rented apartment in Sachsenhausen after continuous harassment from her landlady. Based on these events and the current discussion about increasing gentrification and rent-seeking, Rauscher has spun a classic whodunit scenario in which there are many suspects, numerous motives and surprising twists. The perfect material for entertaining whodunit entertainment.
Once again, Fischer has enriched the story with plenty of local color, including not only the vivid descriptions of various corners of Sachsenhausen with its cult venues such as the Gemalten Haus. Rauscher's fondness for Frankfurt specialties such as apple wine and Handkäs, as well as the typical Hessian cordiality displayed by some of the characters, also lend the crime novel a very special charm. In addition, the entertainment value of the story can benefit from the fact that Rauscher's private life is also consistently continued. Since the inspector has really grown on his readers by now, one wishes him new private happiness after all the setbacks. And you can't help but root for him when this is within reach in the form of Jana, but then something comes up again. Even such small details as a small homage to the Jenny Becker crime novels by Andrea Habeney, which Fischer incorporates into his story, contribute to the success of the novel.
The resolution is satisfactory overall, but as is so often the case with crime novels, it is the path to get there that makes the book so successful and that ultimately remains in the memory. Skillfully weaving light crime entertainment with downright infuriating subject matter such as rent increases driven by pure greed, luxury renovations and evictions, "Abgerippt" has become another very readable Rauscher case that can be highly recommended to lovers of exciting crime entertainment with a good dose of local colour. Worth reading!
An article by Frankfurt-Tipp
