Crime Trilogy – serie

'Devastating and fascinating' New York Times'Ice-cool, effortlessly classy prose' ObserverA group of respectable family men are charged with the brutal murder of a teenager. A promising student gets caught up in a sadistic schoolboy gang.A couple are bound together by the events of one bloody night. Where do you draw the line between good and evil?In Guilt, people commit violent, extraordinary acts; some are convicted in a court of law, others are not. But our narrator, a nameless lawyer, knows that this is never the whole story. Drawn from Ferdinand von Schirach's eminent career as a criminal defence lawyer, the stories in Guilt blur fiction and truth, compelling us to question the difference between guilt and justice, innocence and complicity.

'The stories are cool, meticulously crafted, pithy and mordantly amusing . . . [an] extremely powerful book. Highly recommended' Irish Times'Psychologically raw . . . [von Schirach's] unfussy prose is icily effective' Financial Times'One of the most distinctive voices in European literature' Daily TelegraphA young lawyer puts aside her sense of justice to succeed at her new firm. A man who values silence is driven to murder by his noisy neighbours. A cheated wife seeks revenge.How do you decide what punishment fits the crime?Our narrator is a man you'd never want to meet unless you really needed him. A nameless criminal defence lawyer, he coolly narrates the fate of twelve characters who cross his path. In spare, gripping prose, he tells their stories, uncovering the loneliness and alienation, desire and desperation which drive their choices and shape the consequences they face. Drawn from Ferdinand von Schirach's eminent career as a criminal defence lawyer, Punishment masterfully treads the line between fiction and truth, each meticulously crafted story crackling with white-knuckle suspense and vivid characters who stay with you long after the final page. Translated from the German by Katharina Hall

'Cool, meticulously crafted and mordantly amusing' Irish Times'A chilling insight into a flawed justice system' Daily MailA young lawyer puts aside her sense of justice to succeed at her new firm.A man who values silence is driven to murder by his noisy neighbours.A cheated wife seeks revenge.How do you decide what punishment fits the crime?Our narrator is a man you'd never want to meet unless you really needed him. A nameless lawyer, he coolly recounts the fates of twelve characters who cross his path, uncovering the loneliness and alienation, desire and desperation which drive their choices and shape the consequences they face.Drawn from Ferdinand von Schirach's eminent career as a criminal defence lawyer, each story in Punishment crackles with suspense, masterfully treading the line between fiction and truth.