REVIEW: Anatomy of a Killer by Romy Hausmann

Anatomy of a Killer by Romy Hausmann

Genre: Psychological thriller, German

Read: 16th August 2023

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Published: 3rd August 2023

★ 1 star

DESCRIPTION:

They say he's a murderer. But how could he be?

Berlin, 2017: several young girls have been disappearing for the past fourteen years. Red ribbons show the police the way to their bodies, but there's no trace of the killer.

One evening, internationally renowned philosophy professor and anthropologist Walter Lesniak is arrested on the suspicion of the murders in the presence of his daughter, Ann.

'Professor Death' becomes the headline of the tabloid press and Lesniak himself refuses to cooperate with the police. Ann is certain this is all some kind of mistake. And she will prove it. Yet, with the arrest of her father, she begins a journey into the unknown . . .

MY THOUGHTS:

They call him a murderer...but how could he be...?

Oh my. I was so disappointed with this book sadly. I read and totally loved "Dear Child" so I was thrilled to see this one come up for request. It sounded intriguing. But...

Ann's father is in prison awaiting trial for the murders of several girls over a fourteen year period. Despite the evidence against him, Ann refuses to accept her father's guilt and so embarks on a journey to prove his innocence.

I didn't get that far.

Flipping burgers on Christmas Eve then going home with a customer/friend (still can't work out what he was meant to be) where she got drunk and confessed to the allegations against daddy dearest and her quest to see him free. I honestly couldn't get much past that. I really struggled with the format and the whole story just didn't gel with me. Ann was unlikeable and I found it hard to sympathise much with her. I found her internal dialogue and flashbacks somewhat confusing. But then that could be down to being lost in translation.

I must congratulate the translator as I can't even begin to imagine the task of translating an entire book page by page, line by line, word for word and maintain the integrity of the original. The inclusion of Ann's diary entries that were written phonetically, I think the translator did an astounding job. 

At the end of the day, we can't like every book we read. That's never going to happen. You win some, you lose some. I may give this one another go further down the track but as it stands right now I just couldn't get into it. A shame really because "Dear Child" was the bomb. Totally brilliant. But then it was always going to be tough beating that one.

I would like to thank #RomyHausmann, #Netgalley and #QuercusBooks for an ARC of #AnatomyOfAKiller in exchange for an honest review.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Romy Hausmann was born in the former GDR in 1981. At the age of twenty-four she became chief editor at a film production company in Munich. Since the birth of her son, Romy has been working as a freelancer in TV. DEAR CHILD is her thriller debut, and her second mind-bending thriller SLEEPLESS published in 2021. ANATOMY OF A KILLER is her third english translated thriller published in 2023.

Romy lives with her family in a remote house in the woods near Stuttgart.

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