Shock at the Weltkulturen Museum in Frankfurt. Here, preparations for the big "Power and Magic" exhibition are in full swing. As if the problems with a small but very persistent protest group and the enormous time pressure weren't bad enough, the exhibition director Ilena Willecke-Berghaus disappears without a trace in the hot final phase of all things. Has she run off with a lover or has she perhaps become the victim of her extremely jealous ex-husband? Or does the inconspicuous Charlotte Behring, the museum's Africa expert and new director of the exhibition, have something to do with the disappearance of her former fellow student? Commissioners Christian Voss and Marina Ewers repeatedly encounter unexpected resistance in their investigations, but in their own special way they get closer and closer to the truth. But the key to the disappearance of the attractive woman lies not on Frankfurt's Museum Embankment, but in faraway Burkina Faso...
With "Zeit für Rache" author Sylvia Schopf has written a very entertaining and exciting Frankfurt crime novel that takes a truly murderous look behind the scenes of the Museum Embankment. Of course, the story is fictional. Nevertheless, Schopf succeeds very well in showing the hierarchies and the competition that prevails in the conception and construction of large exhibitions. This may be overdone here and there for dramaturgical reasons, but it does a good job of making you feel the pressures of everyone involved.
Why this works very well in this case is the way Schopf unceremoniously switches narrative perspectives in some scenes. The novel is actually told from an observational perspective. But in some moments the author allows the reader a direct insight into the mind of Charlotte Behring by having her appear as a direct first-person narrator. This makes it clear why Charlotte harbors such hatred for the missing Ilena. At the same time, this also (perhaps) sets the reader on a false trail, as perhaps some of what is going on inside Charlotte is just wishful thinking and not reality.
In fact, events take some unexpected turns in the final third, which is set almost entirely in Burkina Faso, and this certainly helps to heighten the tension. In addition, the book also benefits from its Frankfurt local color and the two sympathetic investigators, whose mutual cabbles also provide somewhat cheerful moments again and again.
"Time for Revenge" reads very pleasantly and offers conventional crime fiction with some very successful and surprising ideas. In particular, the decision to move the action out of Frankfurt to Africa at some point adds a certain charm. Especially since Voss, a true Frankfurtian with a penchant for Stöffche and "Best Worscht", has to find his way around in a culture that is completely foreign to him. If you like exciting Frankfurt crime novels with a little exotic flair and if you just want to relax with light suspense literature, you should definitely take some "Time for Rache". Recommendable!
An article by Frankfurt-Tipp
