List price: $15.95
Pre-order

Come, Sweet Death!

Translated by Annie Janusch

Part of Melville International Crime

“Simon Brenner, the hero of Wolf Haas’ marvelous series of crime thrillers, is a wildly likable and original character–a delightful and unexpected hero to show up in this noble and enduring genre.” —Jonathan Demme

Another dark and funny crime novel by the author Carl Hiaasen has called “the real deal.”

The fourth Brenner book finds the detective in Vienna, uncovering corruption in the ambulance business…and just barely escaping with his life in the process.

Disillusioned ex-cop Simon Brenner decides to take a job as an ambulance driver, in the hopes of getting away from the drudgery and corruption in the police force, and finding a “worthy profession.” But the ambulance service he goes to work for has a problem—their major competitors are beating them to every pick-up, somehow listening on their radio communications. And Brenner can’t help being just a little bit curious about this chance to do some detective work.

Things turn considerably darker as he digs deeper, and it turns out that ambulance services are, literally, a cutthroat business. And there are people who don’t want their business exposed. Brenner races around summertime Vienna, lights flashing, siren blaring, in a desperate attempt to fit it all together before there’s another dead body on his conscience. A caustic and hilarious new installment in the Brenner series.

 

WOLF HAAS was born in 1960 in the Austrian province of Salzburg. He is the author of seven books in the bestselling Detective Brenner mystery series, where each title has sold in the hundreds of thousands, and three volumes of which have been made into popular German language films. Among other prizes, the Brenner books have been awarded the German Thriller Prize and the 2004 Literature Prize from the City of Vienna.

Translator ANNIE JANUSCH is the translator of the Art of the Novella series edition of Heinrich von Kleist’s The Duel and of two Detective Brenner books,Brenner & God and The Bone Man. She lives in Iowa City, Iowa.

“This award-winning series reads like Elmore Leonard meets Ken Bruen—in Vienna, with Tom Robbins offering frequent asides. A dizzying treat mixing comedy and hard-boiled mystery.” —Booklist

“Distinctively sardonic, and told with a deceptively digressive style that mirrors Brenner’s deductive process, this wild ride careens unpredictably to a hair-raising, hilarious climax worthy of the brothers Coen.” —Publishers Weekly

Praise for the Brenner books: 

“Full of wit and sparkle; it’s a novel that leaves you laughing even as you work to solve the mystery… Fans of Carl Hiaasen ought to love this series, and there are at least seven more books awaiting translation.” —The Globe and Mail 

“One of the cleverest — and most thoroughly enjoyable — mysteries that I’ve read in a long time. Wolf Haas is the real deal, and his arrival on the American book scene is long overdue.” —Carl Hiaasen

“A wry sense of humor … American readers will look forward to seeing more of Simon Brenner.” —Publishers Weekly

“A brilliant book…whose voice is among the most unique iconoclast genius voices in literature. The way the tale is told is as gripping as the tale itself… Already among the greats of mystery fiction.” —Book Devil 

Close
MobyLives