Fever

Diagnosed a schizophrenic, addicted to morphine and opium, Glauser spent the greater part of his life in psychiatric wards, insane asylums and prison. His Sergeant Studer novels have ensured his place as a cult figure in Europe. Germany's most prestigious crime fiction award is called the Glauser prize.

"Thumbprint is a fine example of the craft of detective writing in a period which fans will regard as the golden age of crime fiction." The Sunday Telegraph "Makes Mankell look skittish. Thumbprint is a genuine curiosity that compares to the dank poetry of Simenon and reveals the enormous debt owed by Durenmatt, Switzerland's most famous crime writer, for whom this should be seen as a template." The Guardian. "In Matto's Realm features the dour Sergeant Studer, a Swiss Maigret albeit with a strong sense of the absurd. The way in which life in the sinister walls mirrors the chaos outside underlies a despairing plot about the reality of madness and life, leavened at regular intervals with strong doses of bittersweet irony. The idiosyncratic investigation and its laconic detective have not aged one iota. Who said the past never changes." The Guardian "Glauser was among the best European crime writers of the inter-war years. In Matto's Realm is a dark mystery set in a lunatic asylum follows a labyrinthine plot where the edges between reality and fantasy are blurred. The detail, place and sinister characters are so intelligently sculpted that the sense of foreboding is palpable." Glasgow Herald"