A fatal case

Ajax-Press Publishing House is a collection of exciting criminal stories "mortal case". "Cases" in the book nineteen. Each practical, indeed, is fatal, and based on real events from the judicial practice of the Swiss lawyer Melchior Verdenberg.
Melchior Verdenberg was born in 1954. His childhood and youth took place in Eastern Switzerland. Having graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University in Zurich and received the degree of Doctor of Law, he for a long time served as a district prosecutor, was a judge of the military appeal court. Currently, Melchior Verdenberg is successfully engaged not only in private legal practice, but also by business. And in his free time he writes fascinating detective stories and children"s books.
Switzerland - a prosperous country, one might say, boring -stable. And even - unlike such prosperous and boring -stable countries as Sweden or Denmark, who gave the world the phenomenon of the Scandinavian Noir - is not too famous for lovers of detective literature ("Well, what are the crimes in the alpine idyll!") The acquaintance with the work of the Swiss author Melchior Verdenberg should become all the more interesting.
This is not detective literature in its purest form, although it is often about crimes, but the non-criminal component still sets the tone. Rather, this is the work of the passions of human and the grin of fate. Unexpected endings and black humor - Verdenberg’s short stories make you remember Roald Dahl, a great and terrible storyteller. Verdenberg himself does not seem to hide this: "I love short stories, and I am trying to copy the best authors." (Well, how many can compete with Dal for the palm of the championship among Masters of Lesser Prose?)
In fact, under the literary pseudonym Melchior Verdenberg, the famous Swiss lawyer Hans Baumgartner is hiding. He became a lawyer two decades ago, having before having experience in the position of district prosecutor. He was a judge of the military court of appeal. At one time, he was engaged in cases related to drugs and sex business, economic crimes.
So the background, which allows you to write about the mysterious and criminal affairs, has a completely solid Melchior Verdenberg. However, as a lawyer, he assures: any coincidence of his stories with real events and people is an accident.
"Marie, Jim and Joe" - this story on the topic of "not a swarm of another hole" could make Roald Dahl or the French tandem Boailo - Narszhak. A simple classic plot is a bored wife, a bored wife and her young sports and handsome peer, who is tired to death. How can you not get rid of the tucking old spouse, so that it does not remain in the way? We will not do spoilers, but the insidious lovers will be satisfied ...
In approximately the same spirit, another story is designed - "Ficus". Again, a married couple, where the spouses have long been tired of each other. And her husband is directly tormented by a note in the newspaper about an accident in the mountains: the woman fell off the path, the husband that was with her was justified. "His own family life has also changed in the last years for the worse. He seemed to be the liberation of the possible loss of his best half, as it was customary to call aging wives in the circle of his friends. Push a little in the right place - and the problem that is being pestering day a day will be solved. You don’t even have to look at the corpse of his wife, they will be engaged in the relevant public services. And if the investigation takes place, it will end with the justification and payment of compensation, due to which you can live well. ”
Verdenberg stories are short, written by a deliberately cold language, behind which a subtle irony is guessed, this is not only a trifle that helps the reader entertain, plunging into the world of other people"s passions, crimes and punishments. They can make them think - for example, about the death penalty. The character of the story "Ogokoko" is waiting for the execution of the highest measure - he is accused of rape and murder. And his past indicates that he could commit this crime. And most importantly - there is irrefutable evidence: a cigarette butt found at the scene ("Your honor is in front of you one hundred percent evidence that exposes the accused. Its DNA has been found on a cigarette butt found at the crime scene. No one else in the world has such a DNA") But did this unfortunate cigarette be a killer left? Or just to someone - at the cost of life, who had hit a man to bars - did it need to effectively "reveal" a loud business?
But the lawyer from the story "Love for order" - he has to defend the old policeman accused of a series of murders of the homeless. How far is the defender to go to remove terrible accusations from his client? Believe me, very far.
Here, for example, the story "Talion (Retribution)": an old lonely woman named Gerda dies the only close creature - Pesik Taks. The lady decides to find out who poisoned the pet. The circle of suspects narrows. And then "Gerda moves to the nursing home. She purposefully makes acquaintance with the old man, whom she noted in a notebook, because he was interested in dogs. Usually he stroked the dog, talking with the owner. And what happened to the old man? ..
In the nursing home is the character of the story "Papik" - the former not too successful retired prosecutor Ernst was chained to the bed. And his crucified colleague and friend "Bloody Alfred" retires to the Philippines to his young wife. Ernst is not up to exotic, but he reveals the mockery of staff over the weak old people. And then he finds out that not everything is in order who left for his young wife Alfred. And the disabled person is ready to take up the investigation of the death of a friend in a distant Asian country ...
It is especially worth saying about the translator of this book by Boris Khlebnikov (the works of Hoffmann, Gesse, Bully, Grasse, Shlinka, etc) were published in his translations, thanks to which Melchior Verdenberg will now speak with his readers and in Russian