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Hunkeler #1
Silberkiesel
Libro usado en buenas condiciones, por su antiguedad podria contener señales normales de uso
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
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123 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
January 2, 2022
Thanks to Random Things Tours for my paperback copy and my stop on the blog tour!
Albeit this is a short book, but I finished it in a matter of hours. This was a very fast paced and gripping novel, and with lots of suspense to make me race through the pages.
As a translation, it is superbly written and I had no issues with the writing whatsoever.
The book dives straight into the plot and doesn't let up. We follow a drug courier on a train on his way to drop off his goods, but he gets stopped by police and from then, chaos ensues.
I did struggle at times with the many characters involved, so I would have appreciated a character list to aid my understanding, but there are no complaints from me with regards to the story and plot pacing.
Very impressive!
Albeit this is a short book, but I finished it in a matter of hours. This was a very fast paced and gripping novel, and with lots of suspense to make me race through the pages.
As a translation, it is superbly written and I had no issues with the writing whatsoever.
The book dives straight into the plot and doesn't let up. We follow a drug courier on a train on his way to drop off his goods, but he gets stopped by police and from then, chaos ensues.
I did struggle at times with the many characters involved, so I would have appreciated a character list to aid my understanding, but there are no complaints from me with regards to the story and plot pacing.
Very impressive!
July 10, 2022
I am really enjoying these Inspector Hunkeler mysteries by Hanjörg Schneider. Silver Pebbles is the second book that has been translated into english and I am sure looking forward to the next one. These books are not the usual detective stories and they are set in a rather bleak view told by Hunkeler. But they are fascinating just for that reason. It is great to read something different from time to time.
January 12, 2024
“And all the while young people were dying on the streets of Basel because they had nowhere to meet, no indoor space, no money. Because these elderly gentlemen were the ones who decided what culture was.” P139
Inspector Peter Hunkeler is the creation of Swiss German author, Hansjörg Schneider and is the chief protagonist of a series of Eurocrime novels set in Basel, Switzerland. There are ten books in the series and only three have been translated into English. Silver Pebbles was written in 1993 and is actually the second of the series to be translated although was rotten earlier than the first translated book, The Basel Killings.
Firstly, let me say, I love Hunkeler! He’s absolutely my kind of character. Middle aged, cranky, passionate, disgruntled, down to earth and sick of the upper echelons that create power structures that are self serving and out of touch with the people. Silver Pebbles sees him grappling with the drug scene in Basel, totally worked up about the fact that nothing changes for those who most need it and that the people in power either turn a blind eye or actually perpetuate the issue for personal gain.
Hunkeler finds himself questioning everything he stands for, hating who and what he represents as a member of the police force while his daughter Isabelle, potentially languishes, caught up in Basel’s underbelly….. “Hunkeler went out, got into his car, which had a parking ticket on the windshield, and drove off. He hated this town whose policeman he was. He hated these men, who were his friends. He hated himself.” P141
Silver Pebbles centres around a Lebanese drug courier, transporting a haul of diamonds to Basel from Cyprus and is a case of the trials of the middle man and the immigrant sewerage worker who stumbles across these diamonds in the sewer and immediately sees an opportunity for wealth and prosperity. Two different types of greed and need and Hunkeler is set to solve the crime of the diamond theft in order to try to find the bigger players. No mean feat and in some ways is like trying to sift the grains of sand.
Hunkeler in many ways reminds me of Henning Mankell’s Kurt Wallander and Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö’s Martin Beck. The style of writing is similar and the insights into the issues of the day and the inner thoughts of each of these men resonates with me. In some ways there is political incorrectness but it just seems to fit for me. I found myself really identifying with Hunkeler in so many ways. Plus I thoroughly enjoyed meandering my way around Basel. Great reading. 4.5 super solid stars rounded to 5.
Inspector Peter Hunkeler is the creation of Swiss German author, Hansjörg Schneider and is the chief protagonist of a series of Eurocrime novels set in Basel, Switzerland. There are ten books in the series and only three have been translated into English. Silver Pebbles was written in 1993 and is actually the second of the series to be translated although was rotten earlier than the first translated book, The Basel Killings.
Firstly, let me say, I love Hunkeler! He’s absolutely my kind of character. Middle aged, cranky, passionate, disgruntled, down to earth and sick of the upper echelons that create power structures that are self serving and out of touch with the people. Silver Pebbles sees him grappling with the drug scene in Basel, totally worked up about the fact that nothing changes for those who most need it and that the people in power either turn a blind eye or actually perpetuate the issue for personal gain.
Hunkeler finds himself questioning everything he stands for, hating who and what he represents as a member of the police force while his daughter Isabelle, potentially languishes, caught up in Basel’s underbelly….. “Hunkeler went out, got into his car, which had a parking ticket on the windshield, and drove off. He hated this town whose policeman he was. He hated these men, who were his friends. He hated himself.” P141
Silver Pebbles centres around a Lebanese drug courier, transporting a haul of diamonds to Basel from Cyprus and is a case of the trials of the middle man and the immigrant sewerage worker who stumbles across these diamonds in the sewer and immediately sees an opportunity for wealth and prosperity. Two different types of greed and need and Hunkeler is set to solve the crime of the diamond theft in order to try to find the bigger players. No mean feat and in some ways is like trying to sift the grains of sand.
Hunkeler in many ways reminds me of Henning Mankell’s Kurt Wallander and Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö’s Martin Beck. The style of writing is similar and the insights into the issues of the day and the inner thoughts of each of these men resonates with me. In some ways there is political incorrectness but it just seems to fit for me. I found myself really identifying with Hunkeler in so many ways. Plus I thoroughly enjoyed meandering my way around Basel. Great reading. 4.5 super solid stars rounded to 5.
April 22, 2024
Set in Switzerland although ive picked it up as part of my Nordic Noir reading genre. Not sure how we’ll go as it’s a series thirty years old now.
Really flat delivery, very simplistic storyline, no characters, uninterested dialogue, threw in after 70 pages.... i tried, jus not for me.
1 star as didn’t make the 100 page test.
Really flat delivery, very simplistic storyline, no characters, uninterested dialogue, threw in after 70 pages.... i tried, jus not for me.
1 star as didn’t make the 100 page test.
January 13, 2022
Crime mystery set in BASEL
YOU TUBE review: https://youtu.be/V53EnEcFHmo
A neat novel created by a master storyteller. Diamonds are being smuggled into Switzerland from Germany but the smuggler is intercepted and he deftly drops his stash down the toilet. The glittering stones land in the sewer system where Erdogan Civil happens to be busy unblocking an underground junction in the system. He discovers the shiny items and recognises them for what they are, and, of course, hides them away. They now belong to him. His partner Erika, however, is grimly aware that purloining a stash such as this is not without significant dangers.
Inevitably, the smuggling ring cannot simply ignore the disappearance of their precious property and their operative is soon outwitting the police to retrieve the diamonds. Inspector Peter Hunkeler is on the trail of the gang members.
It is very much a caper around Basel and environs and all the while the snow is falling, clogging the thoroughfares. The icy coldness makes an excellent backdrop to story. The story is set when it was still common to smoke in trains and restaurants and political correctness was perhaps just in its infancy.
My issue with the novel is the standard of translation – much like a curate’s egg, with the occasional stilted and wooden interpretation of the original Swiss German. Do English readers expect to see “genital organs”? And I have no idea what this means: “…she could go out walking in her body”; and “she… placed her buttocks on the back seat” (now that conjures up a strange image!). Yes, there is dry humour in the novel but somehow it really does not fully translate into smooth prose, you can invariably hear the German rattling along in the background.
Nevertheless it’s a very readable novel with delightful European flair.
YOU TUBE review: https://youtu.be/V53EnEcFHmo
A neat novel created by a master storyteller. Diamonds are being smuggled into Switzerland from Germany but the smuggler is intercepted and he deftly drops his stash down the toilet. The glittering stones land in the sewer system where Erdogan Civil happens to be busy unblocking an underground junction in the system. He discovers the shiny items and recognises them for what they are, and, of course, hides them away. They now belong to him. His partner Erika, however, is grimly aware that purloining a stash such as this is not without significant dangers.
Inevitably, the smuggling ring cannot simply ignore the disappearance of their precious property and their operative is soon outwitting the police to retrieve the diamonds. Inspector Peter Hunkeler is on the trail of the gang members.
It is very much a caper around Basel and environs and all the while the snow is falling, clogging the thoroughfares. The icy coldness makes an excellent backdrop to story. The story is set when it was still common to smoke in trains and restaurants and political correctness was perhaps just in its infancy.
My issue with the novel is the standard of translation – much like a curate’s egg, with the occasional stilted and wooden interpretation of the original Swiss German. Do English readers expect to see “genital organs”? And I have no idea what this means: “…she could go out walking in her body”; and “she… placed her buttocks on the back seat” (now that conjures up a strange image!). Yes, there is dry humour in the novel but somehow it really does not fully translate into smooth prose, you can invariably hear the German rattling along in the background.
Nevertheless it’s a very readable novel with delightful European flair.
April 11, 2023
Kommissär Hunkeler erinnert mich stark an den Wachtmeister Studer. Ein Kriminalfall ohne Mord und trotzdem spannend und unterhaltend.
October 22, 2023
Rounded up.
October 13, 2022
A nice quick read. At first the characters seemed a bit weak, with a light story. Luckily half way the story picked up a bit and so did the characters get a bit more content. It was a nice, light police story taking place in Basel.
April 1, 2021
I can fully understand that this detective-series in connected to Simenon's Maigret. Liked it a lot and look forward to read the next cases soon!
February 21, 2022
The first of a series of thrillers about inspector Peter Hunkeler, set in Basel, and written by Swiss playwright and novelist Hansjörg Schneider. This novel is very different from the average detective novel: no dead bodies and even (almost) no violence. I wonder whether that is typical for Basel, one of the foremost humanist cities in Europe, on the border with Germany and France? Basel’s museum density also seems to be one the highest in the world, when compared to the number of inhabitants. The book gives a nice sense of place of Basel, as it is suffering from exceptionally heavy snowfall in the story.
The plot concerns a Middle Eastern drug mule, Kayat, who carries diamonds as payment for a batch of narcotics. When the police threatens to check him out, at Basel station he throws the diamonds in the public toilet. The stones are then discovered by a Turkish seasonal worker, an immigrant called Edogan, who has the terrible job of keeping the sewers clean. He plans to secretly keep the diamonds, but that is against the wishes of his Swiss girlfriend Erika, who is afraid that – now a rich man - he will leave her and return to his family and children in Turkey. It all plays out as a farce – Erika, who works at the till in a supermarket, is the only one possessing some wisdom. The police are also fools – time and again they let suspects they are shadowing escape, and Hunkerer, who is close to his pension, does as little work as possible. He has put up a temporary bed in his office and practices the Daoist philosophy of wuwei, acting as little as possible: “I think best when I’m asleep.”
P.S. In the English translation the order of the series has been changed. Volume 1 in English is volume 5 in German, while the present, first volume in German was published as No 2 in English.
The plot concerns a Middle Eastern drug mule, Kayat, who carries diamonds as payment for a batch of narcotics. When the police threatens to check him out, at Basel station he throws the diamonds in the public toilet. The stones are then discovered by a Turkish seasonal worker, an immigrant called Edogan, who has the terrible job of keeping the sewers clean. He plans to secretly keep the diamonds, but that is against the wishes of his Swiss girlfriend Erika, who is afraid that – now a rich man - he will leave her and return to his family and children in Turkey. It all plays out as a farce – Erika, who works at the till in a supermarket, is the only one possessing some wisdom. The police are also fools – time and again they let suspects they are shadowing escape, and Hunkerer, who is close to his pension, does as little work as possible. He has put up a temporary bed in his office and practices the Daoist philosophy of wuwei, acting as little as possible: “I think best when I’m asleep.”
P.S. In the English translation the order of the series has been changed. Volume 1 in English is volume 5 in German, while the present, first volume in German was published as No 2 in English.
January 25, 2022
This my second I have read by this author. The other being The Basel Killings. Which I enjoyed but I enjoyed this one more. Why I don't know; the writing was equally good in both.
The story centres round Guy Kayat and the loss of the diamonds he is carrying. The proceeds of the drug trade. To evade being caught by the police with the diamonds in his possession. Lost , gone forever? No a sewer worker finds them and being Turkish migrant worker dreams of living the high life. This character, Erdogan Civil fails to see that this makes him a target. Not only by Kayat and his drug cartel but also by the police led by Peter Hunkeler.
The writing is good and the characters well fleshed out and all are essential to the story.
Peter Hunkeler, the main police officer is a person trapped in a job he both likes and loathes. Likes in that he feels he is serving his community and loathes in that he must follow his superiors who ignore some of his more out there ideas; like making heroin legal as the best way of smashing the drug cartels.
But the character I liked the best was Erika. A supermarket worker well past her prime who lives with Erdogan even though he has a wife and family in Turkey. She just wants to love and be loved, even if for only part of the year as she knows he must go back to Turkey. But Erdogan's head is turned and he has a bullseye on his back.
A very short read, more of a novella being just over 200 pages. But enjoyable nevertheless. A recommended tale.
Thanks to RandomThingsTours and Bitter Lemon Press for the tourinvite and the ARC.
The story centres round Guy Kayat and the loss of the diamonds he is carrying. The proceeds of the drug trade. To evade being caught by the police with the diamonds in his possession. Lost , gone forever? No a sewer worker finds them and being Turkish migrant worker dreams of living the high life. This character, Erdogan Civil fails to see that this makes him a target. Not only by Kayat and his drug cartel but also by the police led by Peter Hunkeler.
The writing is good and the characters well fleshed out and all are essential to the story.
Peter Hunkeler, the main police officer is a person trapped in a job he both likes and loathes. Likes in that he feels he is serving his community and loathes in that he must follow his superiors who ignore some of his more out there ideas; like making heroin legal as the best way of smashing the drug cartels.
But the character I liked the best was Erika. A supermarket worker well past her prime who lives with Erdogan even though he has a wife and family in Turkey. She just wants to love and be loved, even if for only part of the year as she knows he must go back to Turkey. But Erdogan's head is turned and he has a bullseye on his back.
A very short read, more of a novella being just over 200 pages. But enjoyable nevertheless. A recommended tale.
Thanks to RandomThingsTours and Bitter Lemon Press for the tourinvite and the ARC.
January 20, 2022
Silver Pebbles by Hansjörg Schneider is an international crime thriller that kept me entertained from start to finish. It’s fast paced with twists and turns, and it is relatively short, so it was a quick read for me.
The translation is great. There are a few places where the language is not quite perfect, but it was originally written in a language I wouldn’t have been able to understand, and I’m happy it was translated so I could enjoy the story.
There are quite a few characters but once I got used to them, it wasn’t difficult to follow at all. I enjoyed the bits of dry humor spread through the story as well.
Overall, I enjoyed Silver Pebbles. If you enjoy fast paced thrillers, I’d recommend giving this a read.
Thank you to Random Things Tours for the free review copy. All opinions are my own and unbiased.
The translation is great. There are a few places where the language is not quite perfect, but it was originally written in a language I wouldn’t have been able to understand, and I’m happy it was translated so I could enjoy the story.
There are quite a few characters but once I got used to them, it wasn’t difficult to follow at all. I enjoyed the bits of dry humor spread through the story as well.
Overall, I enjoyed Silver Pebbles. If you enjoy fast paced thrillers, I’d recommend giving this a read.
Thank you to Random Things Tours for the free review copy. All opinions are my own and unbiased.
January 30, 2022
I really enjoyed this book. Not only because it’s a book in translation, which I love, but it’s deeply character based. It explains not only that the characters do this or that, but why. This is missing in so many books.
I liked Erika and felt for her deeply. In a relationship with someone she knows she’s going to lose one day. The day he feels his fortune has been made, is the day her fears to her are realised. All the characters are rounded and none are one dimensional, cardboard cutout stereotypes of police or villains.
It’s a short read, but in depth and extremely worth your time to read it. I loved it.
With thanks to Anne Cater, Bitter Lemon Press and the author for the advanced reading copy of this book.
I liked Erika and felt for her deeply. In a relationship with someone she knows she’s going to lose one day. The day he feels his fortune has been made, is the day her fears to her are realised. All the characters are rounded and none are one dimensional, cardboard cutout stereotypes of police or villains.
It’s a short read, but in depth and extremely worth your time to read it. I loved it.
With thanks to Anne Cater, Bitter Lemon Press and the author for the advanced reading copy of this book.
January 16, 2022
A fun if overly familiar crime tale enlivened by the Swiss setting exploring a country’s crime problems that I was not familiar with - entertaining
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
October 30, 2021
I’ve been reading a lot of very impressive international crime novels recently, and Silver Pebbles by Hansjörg Schneider is yet another. A die-hard fan of crime fiction for decades, I’ve purposely expanded my crime fiction reading beyond the borders of my own country. So it delighted me when a publicist for Bitter Lemon Press offered me a copy of this book, and Schneider, a Swiss writer, and dramatist did not disappoint. While Silver Pebbles has elements of a slow-burn crime thriller, it fits best in the police procedural genre, a sub-genre of detective fiction. A police procedural differs from other cop novels. Instead of a single policeman getting called in to solve a crime and doing it alone, an entire squad cooperates to solve the crime using the methodology of detection based on real-life police work. Inevitably certain characters are more interesting or intelligent than others and get more space in a novel, but putting the bad guys away and solving the crime is a team effort.
Typically in a police procedural, someone commits murder, and a squad of police detectives gets called upon to find the killer. However, what drew my attention to Silver Pebbles was that it isn’t about a murder but a drug courier transporting a fortune in diamonds back to his employers in payment for the delivery of drugs. That fresh and creative approach is one of the things I liked best about the book. It captured my imagination and made for a more compelling premise than my usual steady diet of murder novels.
As the book unfolds, we first meet a key criminal in the story, Guy Kayat, a young Lebanese man working for a drug cartel as a drug mule and courier. Kayat is on the train from Frankfurt to Basel (a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine). In his bag, Kayat carries a fortune in perfectly cut diamonds received in payment for a delivery of narcotics which he is couriering back to his cartel bosses. Unfortunately for Kayat, the Swiss police are on to him, thanks to a tip from the German police, and a squad of detectives is waiting on him at the Basel train station. Schneider does an accomplished job painting this character for us. As the story progresses, we learn much about Kayat, why he does what he does, and what motivates him to participate in the drug trade. Once we learn about him, even though he is a criminal, it’s difficult not to feel a measure of sympathy for him.
A few pages later in the first chapter, we meet the main character, Peter Hunkeler, a detective inspector with the Basel police and the detective in charge of the squad tasked with apprehending Kayat and seizing the illicit diamonds. Hunkeler, as the protagonist, gets more space in a novel than his police colleagues, and naturally, we get a more in-depth look at his life than the lives of the other cops involved in the investigation. We see the investigation develop primarily through his eyes. In a real sense, the book often seems less concerned with solving a crime than examining the complex life, motives, strengths, and weaknesses of Hunkeler.
The biggest challenge for some readers of this book might be that the Hunkeler character seems a bit clichéd. After all, he has all the usual flaws one expects from the main character in a novel of the genre. First, he smokes and wants to quit but can’t. Second, Hunkeler struggles with his long past divorce and estrangement from his adult daughter, who remains the most important person in the world to him. Third, the detective inspector is cynical and burnt out. Fourth, he is a maverick and doesn’t get on well with his supervisor, and sometimes he drinks excessively. Finally, Hunkeler has an intimate relationship with a woman he hasn’t married, which he uses mostly for only sexual satisfaction and fulfillment of his emotional needs.
I get it. Crime novel characters must have flaws to appear like real people. As I know from personal experience, policing is a stressful job, no doubt about it. But not so stressful that every single cop hits the bottle the moment their shift ends. Yes, many police marriages don’t always survive, and divorces happen. But cop marriages can be as strong as anybody else’s. It’s one of the things that can help a police officer cope with the stress. Unfortunately, at least in the opinion of readers not devoted to the genre, crime fiction writers don’t always spend enough time pushing out from safety zones of the genre conventions. They believe that’s why we end up with tropes and clichés.
Alternatively, those like me who are devoted to the genre aren’t particularly bothered by reliance on the usual conventions, even if they might agree that sticking to them results in tropes and clichés. We sort of expect that from a police procedural. And from an author’s perspective, sticking to the conventions still sells books. Just consider an American super-star of cop novels, Michael Connelly, whose Harry Bosch is in the pantheon of all-time great police detectives. If you know much about Bosch, you know he shares all the same flaws with Hunkeler.
To be fair, there is far more to Hunkeler than the predictable flaws we’ve come to expect from police detective main characters. He possesses characteristics that make him unique and multi-layered. Examples include his political and social world views and his disdain for capitalists and politicians, many of whom Hunkeler regards as the true criminals while acknowledging their wealth and positions makes them virtually untouchable. Also, while Hunkeler enforces drug laws, he feels a high degree of sympathy for drug addicts. All in all, I find Hunkeler a compelling, multi-faceted, and believable character.
As much as I liked Hunkeler, the character in the book which most captured my attention and I like most is Erika, the Swiss girlfriend of the Turkish sewage worker, Erdogan, who eventually finds the discarded diamonds in a sewer pipe beneath the Basel train station.
Erika might be considered a only a minor character in the overall scheme of the novel. She is a single, childless, middle-aged woman, past her prime, who works as a supermarket cashier and desperately clings to the relationship of mutual convenience that she shares with Erdogan. Yet it is with Erika I believe Schneider’s expertise with drawing realistic, believable, and complex characters shows through most brilliantly. Moreover, the crafting of Erika is a virtuoso performance. We feel immediate empathy for Erika and sympathy for her difficult life while at the same time feeling astonishment upon learning she is a woman of grace, character, strength, and wisdom.
If you’re unfamiliar with the works of Hansjörg Schneider, as I was before reading this book, I think it fair to say that stylistically, Silver Pebbles reads quite like a Henning Mankell Wallander novel. Even those who haven’t read Mankell have likely seen the popular films based on his Wallander character. Silver Pebbles isn’t a whodunit. Both the police and the reader know who the criminals are and what they’ve done out the outset. The story is about the systematic attempts by the police to solve the crime by bringing the bad guys to justice and how the criminals try to get away. The book has its suspenseful, edge-of-your-seat moments, but at times the pace of the story lags as we wait for something to happen, some catalyst to reignite the action. However, that is the nature of the police procedural, which seeks to mirror the realism of actual police investigations that play out similarly. The police do not solve crimes in an hour, as television dramas portray.
I found Silver Pebbles a gripping and entertaining read and came away impressed with Schneider’s obvious and considerable talent as a crime writer. He is the author of several highly acclaimed plays and the bestselling Hunkeler crime series, with ten titles published. The Basel Killings, the first in series published in English, was awarded The Friedrich Glauser Prize, Germany’s most prestigious crime fiction literary award. Silver Pebbles is the second book in the series to be published in English. I found not a single awkward passage in the book, revealing that translator Mike Mitchell did an admirable job with the translation. Those of us who enjoy reading novels from international authors first published in other languages always appreciate that. If you’re a devoted fan of detective fiction and police procedural novels, you’re sure to like this book. I truly loved the ironic denouement. The resolution was both appropriate and most satisfying.
Bitter Lemon Press will publish Silver Pebbles from February 22, 2022. I received an advance reading copy of the book from the publisher used for this review, representing my honest and unbiased opinions.
Typically in a police procedural, someone commits murder, and a squad of police detectives gets called upon to find the killer. However, what drew my attention to Silver Pebbles was that it isn’t about a murder but a drug courier transporting a fortune in diamonds back to his employers in payment for the delivery of drugs. That fresh and creative approach is one of the things I liked best about the book. It captured my imagination and made for a more compelling premise than my usual steady diet of murder novels.
As the book unfolds, we first meet a key criminal in the story, Guy Kayat, a young Lebanese man working for a drug cartel as a drug mule and courier. Kayat is on the train from Frankfurt to Basel (a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine). In his bag, Kayat carries a fortune in perfectly cut diamonds received in payment for a delivery of narcotics which he is couriering back to his cartel bosses. Unfortunately for Kayat, the Swiss police are on to him, thanks to a tip from the German police, and a squad of detectives is waiting on him at the Basel train station. Schneider does an accomplished job painting this character for us. As the story progresses, we learn much about Kayat, why he does what he does, and what motivates him to participate in the drug trade. Once we learn about him, even though he is a criminal, it’s difficult not to feel a measure of sympathy for him.
A few pages later in the first chapter, we meet the main character, Peter Hunkeler, a detective inspector with the Basel police and the detective in charge of the squad tasked with apprehending Kayat and seizing the illicit diamonds. Hunkeler, as the protagonist, gets more space in a novel than his police colleagues, and naturally, we get a more in-depth look at his life than the lives of the other cops involved in the investigation. We see the investigation develop primarily through his eyes. In a real sense, the book often seems less concerned with solving a crime than examining the complex life, motives, strengths, and weaknesses of Hunkeler.
The biggest challenge for some readers of this book might be that the Hunkeler character seems a bit clichéd. After all, he has all the usual flaws one expects from the main character in a novel of the genre. First, he smokes and wants to quit but can’t. Second, Hunkeler struggles with his long past divorce and estrangement from his adult daughter, who remains the most important person in the world to him. Third, the detective inspector is cynical and burnt out. Fourth, he is a maverick and doesn’t get on well with his supervisor, and sometimes he drinks excessively. Finally, Hunkeler has an intimate relationship with a woman he hasn’t married, which he uses mostly for only sexual satisfaction and fulfillment of his emotional needs.
I get it. Crime novel characters must have flaws to appear like real people. As I know from personal experience, policing is a stressful job, no doubt about it. But not so stressful that every single cop hits the bottle the moment their shift ends. Yes, many police marriages don’t always survive, and divorces happen. But cop marriages can be as strong as anybody else’s. It’s one of the things that can help a police officer cope with the stress. Unfortunately, at least in the opinion of readers not devoted to the genre, crime fiction writers don’t always spend enough time pushing out from safety zones of the genre conventions. They believe that’s why we end up with tropes and clichés.
Alternatively, those like me who are devoted to the genre aren’t particularly bothered by reliance on the usual conventions, even if they might agree that sticking to them results in tropes and clichés. We sort of expect that from a police procedural. And from an author’s perspective, sticking to the conventions still sells books. Just consider an American super-star of cop novels, Michael Connelly, whose Harry Bosch is in the pantheon of all-time great police detectives. If you know much about Bosch, you know he shares all the same flaws with Hunkeler.
To be fair, there is far more to Hunkeler than the predictable flaws we’ve come to expect from police detective main characters. He possesses characteristics that make him unique and multi-layered. Examples include his political and social world views and his disdain for capitalists and politicians, many of whom Hunkeler regards as the true criminals while acknowledging their wealth and positions makes them virtually untouchable. Also, while Hunkeler enforces drug laws, he feels a high degree of sympathy for drug addicts. All in all, I find Hunkeler a compelling, multi-faceted, and believable character.
As much as I liked Hunkeler, the character in the book which most captured my attention and I like most is Erika, the Swiss girlfriend of the Turkish sewage worker, Erdogan, who eventually finds the discarded diamonds in a sewer pipe beneath the Basel train station.
Erika might be considered a only a minor character in the overall scheme of the novel. She is a single, childless, middle-aged woman, past her prime, who works as a supermarket cashier and desperately clings to the relationship of mutual convenience that she shares with Erdogan. Yet it is with Erika I believe Schneider’s expertise with drawing realistic, believable, and complex characters shows through most brilliantly. Moreover, the crafting of Erika is a virtuoso performance. We feel immediate empathy for Erika and sympathy for her difficult life while at the same time feeling astonishment upon learning she is a woman of grace, character, strength, and wisdom.
If you’re unfamiliar with the works of Hansjörg Schneider, as I was before reading this book, I think it fair to say that stylistically, Silver Pebbles reads quite like a Henning Mankell Wallander novel. Even those who haven’t read Mankell have likely seen the popular films based on his Wallander character. Silver Pebbles isn’t a whodunit. Both the police and the reader know who the criminals are and what they’ve done out the outset. The story is about the systematic attempts by the police to solve the crime by bringing the bad guys to justice and how the criminals try to get away. The book has its suspenseful, edge-of-your-seat moments, but at times the pace of the story lags as we wait for something to happen, some catalyst to reignite the action. However, that is the nature of the police procedural, which seeks to mirror the realism of actual police investigations that play out similarly. The police do not solve crimes in an hour, as television dramas portray.
I found Silver Pebbles a gripping and entertaining read and came away impressed with Schneider’s obvious and considerable talent as a crime writer. He is the author of several highly acclaimed plays and the bestselling Hunkeler crime series, with ten titles published. The Basel Killings, the first in series published in English, was awarded The Friedrich Glauser Prize, Germany’s most prestigious crime fiction literary award. Silver Pebbles is the second book in the series to be published in English. I found not a single awkward passage in the book, revealing that translator Mike Mitchell did an admirable job with the translation. Those of us who enjoy reading novels from international authors first published in other languages always appreciate that. If you’re a devoted fan of detective fiction and police procedural novels, you’re sure to like this book. I truly loved the ironic denouement. The resolution was both appropriate and most satisfying.
Bitter Lemon Press will publish Silver Pebbles from February 22, 2022. I received an advance reading copy of the book from the publisher used for this review, representing my honest and unbiased opinions.
August 2, 2024
This is my third novel in the series, all of them have been (quoting my previous review) full of dreary atmosphere and a moody mystery, I am happy to say that this earlier novel follows in those footsteps as well.
We start with a Lebanese courier smuggling diamonds into Switzerland from Germany for some drug dealers. However, when he gets to Basel he realizes that the police have been tipped off and he quickly has to get rid of the diamonds by flushing them down a toilet. We then move to Edogan, a Turkish immigrant working in the sewers, who finds the diamonds. With this windfall he will be able to quit his job and go back to Turkey to fulfill his dreams. This does not sit well with Erika, his Swiss girlfriend, who is worried that he will leave her and return to his wife and children. And over all of this drama sits Peter Hunkeler, a Detective Inspector in the criminal investigation department of the city police in Basel, trying to put the story together and being frustrated by how the downtrodden and poor are being treated while the rich and powerful get away with murder. Can Hunkeler solve the case of the missing diamonds before the drug lords get their revenge?
As in the previous books, Hunkeler is definitely in the "anti-hero" mold of police officer, world-weary, not following procedures, drinking too much, hating the politics and processes of being a policeman. It's hard to call this a police procedural when Hunkeler doesn't really follow any procedures, but he has his own sense of justice which takes him down some differing paths from his colleagues. Another good story.
We start with a Lebanese courier smuggling diamonds into Switzerland from Germany for some drug dealers. However, when he gets to Basel he realizes that the police have been tipped off and he quickly has to get rid of the diamonds by flushing them down a toilet. We then move to Edogan, a Turkish immigrant working in the sewers, who finds the diamonds. With this windfall he will be able to quit his job and go back to Turkey to fulfill his dreams. This does not sit well with Erika, his Swiss girlfriend, who is worried that he will leave her and return to his wife and children. And over all of this drama sits Peter Hunkeler, a Detective Inspector in the criminal investigation department of the city police in Basel, trying to put the story together and being frustrated by how the downtrodden and poor are being treated while the rich and powerful get away with murder. Can Hunkeler solve the case of the missing diamonds before the drug lords get their revenge?
As in the previous books, Hunkeler is definitely in the "anti-hero" mold of police officer, world-weary, not following procedures, drinking too much, hating the politics and processes of being a policeman. It's hard to call this a police procedural when Hunkeler doesn't really follow any procedures, but he has his own sense of justice which takes him down some differing paths from his colleagues. Another good story.
July 3, 2025
Guy Kayat is a Lebanese man who is carrying a bunch of diamonds to Basel, Switzerland, to be delivered to the higher ups in the illegal drug business - the profits had been converted into diamonds to make smuggling easier. The police got a tip-off and led by Inspector Peter Hunkeler, were there to arrest him, but before they could seize the diamonds, he managed to flush them down a public toilet. A Turkish "guest worker" named Erdogan Civil who works in the public sewer system, is sent down the sewers to clear out a clogged point. And guess what - in addition to other kinds of debris, there was a package of diamonds. He felt rich! He had a wife and three kids back in Turkey, but he also has a Swiss girlfriend, Erika Waldis, who is deeply in love with him. But Kayat, his superiors, and the police (separately) are searching for the diamonds too, and so they eventually get wind of Erdogan's find, although he vehemently denies having them. and so, it goes from there, a real page turner. and what will happen to the diamonds, who will get them?
December 7, 2022
This is a fairly quick read & one that moves at a decent pace. It's a little different to the crime novels I normally read as there's no murder to solve here. Instead we follow a diamond smuggler that Inspector Hunkeler has had a tip off about. Consequently down a toilet the diamonds go only to be found by a sewage worker. As a result the hunt is on not only for diamonds but for the person who found them. The question is will Hunkeler or the courier find him first?
It's a steady story with writing that's of the straightforward, no-nonsense type, there's no flowery prose or detailed descriptions here, it just gets on & tells the tale. Once or twice I felt it didn't flow particularly well but maybe something was lost in translation.
Overall a decent read & I'd happily read more in the series.
It's a steady story with writing that's of the straightforward, no-nonsense type, there's no flowery prose or detailed descriptions here, it just gets on & tells the tale. Once or twice I felt it didn't flow particularly well but maybe something was lost in translation.
Overall a decent read & I'd happily read more in the series.
July 15, 2025
Inspector Peter Hunkeler of the Basel, Switzerland police force is a troubled man. He hates his job, is generally pessimistic about a lot of things, and is separated from his adult daughter. A project that he is heading to intercept a drug courier goes bad. The courier is able to flush of a bunch of diamonds down a train station toilet. Erdogan, a Turkish sewage worker, discovers them and plans to keep them. Erika, his girlfriend, wants him to turn them in. With Hunkeler and the drug courier closing in, Erdogan has a plan to get away. But it’s not a very good plan and Erika tries her best to somehow resolve the situation. Meanwhile Hunkeler watches from the sidelines, making an appearance at the end.
August 4, 2024
I really enjoyed this Swiss novel and being German, I could see past the English translation and really enjoyed the calm and precise telling of this story. I liked Hunkeler and his ravings about the state of affairs in Switzerland which sadly are not too dissimilar to what's going on in the UK right now.
It was well written and I did like the glimmer of hope at the end for Erika and Erdogan
It was well written and I did like the glimmer of hope at the end for Erika and Erdogan
January 3, 2021
Guter Krimi mit einem Schweizer Kommissar der einen Fall in der Drogenszene ermittelt. Realistischer Plot mit interessanter Hauptfigur, welche ihre eigenen Schwierigkeiten mit dem Polizist-Sein hat. Spannend auch der Einblick in die Schweizer Gesellschaft und wie diese mit Ausländern umgeht.
February 10, 2023
A Great Read.
September 30, 2024
Eigenlijk drie en een halve.
January 26, 2022
Silver Pebbles by Hansjörg Schneider, translated by Mike Mitchell, Bitter Lemon Press
First published in German as Silberkiesel in 1993, Silver Pebbles is the true first book in the Inspector Peter Hunkeler series. This may come as a surprise to anyone who read last year’s The Basel Killings which had been billed as the first story by the road weary Swiss detective.
Perhaps The Basel Killings was chosen to be the first English language translation as it put the focus firmly on Hunkeler. Although both Silver Pebbles and The Basel Killings can be enjoyed as separate standalones it was apparent to me very early that stylistically there is a contrasting style between the novels. While The Basel Killings followed the actions of the key protagonist throughout the story, in a style similar to Henning Mankel’s Wallander, in Silver Pebbles the narrative is shared by a range of characters including Hunkeler, Erika Waldis, Erdogan Civil and Guy Kuyat. Personally I did prefer this approach as it gave numerous viewpoints and a little more insight into the personalities and motivations of the characters.
When Lebanese diamond courier Kuyat arrives in Basel on a plane from Nicosia he is due to meet his Swiss connection Haller. Yet when Hunkeler and his squad including Sergeant Madörin intercept their rendezvous, Kuyat manages to drop the diamonds down a public toilet. These are later found by sewer worker Erdogan who is a seasonal worker from Turkey who immediately of opening a large hotel back in his home country. We also encounter Swiss checkout counter operator Erika Waldis who enjoys her modest life with her younger exotic partner. She is dismayed by his find as she fears his permanent departure from Switzerland but reluctantly agrees with him to try to sell the diamonds.
Unbeknown to both of them, the freed Kuyat is already on Erdogan’s trail and has made it clear that he expects the diamonds to be returned to him. Erdogan believes he can outsmart him and a cat and mouse game follows. The question then emerges whether Hunkeler and his team can get to Erdogan and Erika before they captured or whether they can evade all their pursuers in a bed for freedom. Meanwhile he also has to deal with the objections of the local prosecutor to following a man suspected of controlling the import of the diamonds and frequent conflicts with Madörin over his own laziness and alcohol consumption.
Schneider’s Basel takes us into a contrasting world whether the incredibly rich and powerful reside in the same city as poor locals, immigrants, and drug addicts. Through the story it is interesting to note that the author makes particular arguments about the availability of hard drugs. Following his viewpoint, due to the illegality of heroine it is priced at an unaffordable rate for addicts hence leading to more crime and also more profits for those who control its flow into the country. It is interesting to note that since 1994 Switzerland has had a controlled medical distribution of heroine where addicts can receive a daily dose of the drug. It appears Schneider was adding his points to the political debate at that time under the guise of Hunkeler’s concerns for his own daughter. Another subject considered is racism and although Kuyat accuses Hunkeler of racism in his statements, it is later shown that the inspector has no tolerance for such views as someone displaying prejudice views is on the receiving end of Hunkeler’s temper.
Silver Pebbles has an excellent translation from Mike Mitchell yet sadly we lose some of the nuances that a native German reader would experience with the original as Schneider writes in Swiss German which has quite distinct dialect. This is in the same way that Andrea Camilleri’s Montelbano books are written in Sicilian rather than Italian.
I do like the setting of Schneider’s books in the setting of snow covered Basel close to the French and German borders and I also did find myself in agreement with the author’s societal views. I also felt the characterisations of Erika and Erdogan gave the story a believable human side. However, I did feel at 200 pages the story was slightly undeveloped: there was little genuine detection work from Hunkeler’s team, minimal tension to the pursuit of Erdogan and I also feel the storyline about the Mr Big directing Kuyat and Haller could have been further developed. In my view Silver Pebbles is an enjoyable but not quite an essential read. It satisfies as a self-contained, fairly safe and slightly dated crime fiction novel. Yet I cannot escape the personal opinion that I have not yet quite found enough distinguishing factors about Inspector Peter Hunkeler to separate him from similar principle characters by other European crime writers.
First published in German as Silberkiesel in 1993, Silver Pebbles is the true first book in the Inspector Peter Hunkeler series. This may come as a surprise to anyone who read last year’s The Basel Killings which had been billed as the first story by the road weary Swiss detective.
Perhaps The Basel Killings was chosen to be the first English language translation as it put the focus firmly on Hunkeler. Although both Silver Pebbles and The Basel Killings can be enjoyed as separate standalones it was apparent to me very early that stylistically there is a contrasting style between the novels. While The Basel Killings followed the actions of the key protagonist throughout the story, in a style similar to Henning Mankel’s Wallander, in Silver Pebbles the narrative is shared by a range of characters including Hunkeler, Erika Waldis, Erdogan Civil and Guy Kuyat. Personally I did prefer this approach as it gave numerous viewpoints and a little more insight into the personalities and motivations of the characters.
When Lebanese diamond courier Kuyat arrives in Basel on a plane from Nicosia he is due to meet his Swiss connection Haller. Yet when Hunkeler and his squad including Sergeant Madörin intercept their rendezvous, Kuyat manages to drop the diamonds down a public toilet. These are later found by sewer worker Erdogan who is a seasonal worker from Turkey who immediately of opening a large hotel back in his home country. We also encounter Swiss checkout counter operator Erika Waldis who enjoys her modest life with her younger exotic partner. She is dismayed by his find as she fears his permanent departure from Switzerland but reluctantly agrees with him to try to sell the diamonds.
Unbeknown to both of them, the freed Kuyat is already on Erdogan’s trail and has made it clear that he expects the diamonds to be returned to him. Erdogan believes he can outsmart him and a cat and mouse game follows. The question then emerges whether Hunkeler and his team can get to Erdogan and Erika before they captured or whether they can evade all their pursuers in a bed for freedom. Meanwhile he also has to deal with the objections of the local prosecutor to following a man suspected of controlling the import of the diamonds and frequent conflicts with Madörin over his own laziness and alcohol consumption.
Schneider’s Basel takes us into a contrasting world whether the incredibly rich and powerful reside in the same city as poor locals, immigrants, and drug addicts. Through the story it is interesting to note that the author makes particular arguments about the availability of hard drugs. Following his viewpoint, due to the illegality of heroine it is priced at an unaffordable rate for addicts hence leading to more crime and also more profits for those who control its flow into the country. It is interesting to note that since 1994 Switzerland has had a controlled medical distribution of heroine where addicts can receive a daily dose of the drug. It appears Schneider was adding his points to the political debate at that time under the guise of Hunkeler’s concerns for his own daughter. Another subject considered is racism and although Kuyat accuses Hunkeler of racism in his statements, it is later shown that the inspector has no tolerance for such views as someone displaying prejudice views is on the receiving end of Hunkeler’s temper.
Silver Pebbles has an excellent translation from Mike Mitchell yet sadly we lose some of the nuances that a native German reader would experience with the original as Schneider writes in Swiss German which has quite distinct dialect. This is in the same way that Andrea Camilleri’s Montelbano books are written in Sicilian rather than Italian.
I do like the setting of Schneider’s books in the setting of snow covered Basel close to the French and German borders and I also did find myself in agreement with the author’s societal views. I also felt the characterisations of Erika and Erdogan gave the story a believable human side. However, I did feel at 200 pages the story was slightly undeveloped: there was little genuine detection work from Hunkeler’s team, minimal tension to the pursuit of Erdogan and I also feel the storyline about the Mr Big directing Kuyat and Haller could have been further developed. In my view Silver Pebbles is an enjoyable but not quite an essential read. It satisfies as a self-contained, fairly safe and slightly dated crime fiction novel. Yet I cannot escape the personal opinion that I have not yet quite found enough distinguishing factors about Inspector Peter Hunkeler to separate him from similar principle characters by other European crime writers.
January 14, 2022
Set sometime in the 1990s, Silver Pebbles by Hansjörg Schneider is at least as eventful as the Basel Killings (translated into English by the same Mike Mitchell) but has a more human-oriented take. Featuring the same inspector Peter Hunkeler, it follows the journey of some precious dirty diamonds, from the drug cartels to the dirt of Basel sewerage system.
The story brings into the forefront simple people, with simple lives, with simple life aims - like dreaming of a good life - caught in the net of greediness. The diamonds that were supposed to be paid for some drug deals ended up in the pockets of a humble sewerage worker of Turkish origin. For a couple of days, he dreamt about returning back to his home country where he had a family and children, as a rich man. His Basel girlfriend tried and even succeeded to stop him from keeping the poisonous pebbles, not before going through some exceptional episodes and facing extraordinary life threats. But when you have nothing, you have nothing to lose, isn´t it?
I´ve found fascinating the illustration of the impact of global threads to the everyday life and souls, reflecting the take on the simple life, on the backdrop of globalisation.
Written as a classical crime novel, with a relatively predictable plot and sharing indirect meditations about life and human nature, the story is built as a game of chess. At least in the first part of the story, when it seems like most of the characters are fully devoted to find - or keep - the diamonds, no matter the price. This pace is, in my opinion, lost in the last part, and the pace is relatively slowing down. However, there are twists that keep your heart pounding until the very end of the story, which is unexpected, but follows the same human-focused story line.
As relatively familiar with Switzerland, less with Basel though, the book portrays an authentic ambiance for that period of time, particularly from the point of view of the increased ethnic diversity, the result of the immigration, that had a certain impact on the conservative local mindsets - without necessarily leading to a further positive perception of foreigners though.
If you are looking to read something insightful, smart and well written this weekend, Silver Pebbles is a perfect choice. For me, after my second Peter Hunkeler crime story, I know that Hansjörg Schneider is the author to look for when in need for some intelligent crime novel.
Disclaimer: Book offered as part of a book tour, but the opinions are, as usual, my own
The story brings into the forefront simple people, with simple lives, with simple life aims - like dreaming of a good life - caught in the net of greediness. The diamonds that were supposed to be paid for some drug deals ended up in the pockets of a humble sewerage worker of Turkish origin. For a couple of days, he dreamt about returning back to his home country where he had a family and children, as a rich man. His Basel girlfriend tried and even succeeded to stop him from keeping the poisonous pebbles, not before going through some exceptional episodes and facing extraordinary life threats. But when you have nothing, you have nothing to lose, isn´t it?
I´ve found fascinating the illustration of the impact of global threads to the everyday life and souls, reflecting the take on the simple life, on the backdrop of globalisation.
Written as a classical crime novel, with a relatively predictable plot and sharing indirect meditations about life and human nature, the story is built as a game of chess. At least in the first part of the story, when it seems like most of the characters are fully devoted to find - or keep - the diamonds, no matter the price. This pace is, in my opinion, lost in the last part, and the pace is relatively slowing down. However, there are twists that keep your heart pounding until the very end of the story, which is unexpected, but follows the same human-focused story line.
As relatively familiar with Switzerland, less with Basel though, the book portrays an authentic ambiance for that period of time, particularly from the point of view of the increased ethnic diversity, the result of the immigration, that had a certain impact on the conservative local mindsets - without necessarily leading to a further positive perception of foreigners though.
If you are looking to read something insightful, smart and well written this weekend, Silver Pebbles is a perfect choice. For me, after my second Peter Hunkeler crime story, I know that Hansjörg Schneider is the author to look for when in need for some intelligent crime novel.
Disclaimer: Book offered as part of a book tour, but the opinions are, as usual, my own
February 7, 2022
🌟🌟🌟🌟
#bookreview
#silverpebbles #inspectorhunkeler #hansjörgschneider
The Story: A Lebanese man carrying diamonds in his bag is on the train from Frankfurt to Basel, a drug mule on the return journey. At the Basel train station Inspector Hunkeler is waiting for him after a tipoff from the German police. The courier manages to flush the stones away in the station WC. Erdogan, a young Turkish sewage worker, finds the diamonds in the pipes under the station. To him they mean wealth and the small hotel he always wanted to buy near his hometown. To his older Swiss girl-friend Erika, the stones signify the end of their life together. She knows that Erdogan has a wife and children in Turkey. For the courier, finding the stones is a matter of life and death. His employers are on their way to “tidy things up”. For Hunkeler the stones are the only way to get to the people behind the drug trade. They turn out to include not only the bottom feeding drug gangs, but bankers and politicians very high up the Basel food chain.
I usually find books that have been translated quite bitty and hard to follow - Silver Pebbles, however, was easy to read. Despite the simple storyline and few characters, I found it an enjoyable read, if somewhat short. I feel there could have been a bit more drama and would have liked to get to know the characters a bit better.
Summing up - an enjoyable and easy read with an easy to follow storyline
#bookblog #bookreadersofinstagram #bookcommunity #bookaddict #bookworm #booksbooksbooks #nursesthatread #scottishreader #bookmail #bookgeek #bookreviewer #bookreviewersofinstagram #bookobsessed #scottishbookstagrammer #bookaholic #whatiread #readerssupportingauthors #pageturners #bloggergirl #themagicofbooks #bookwormsunited #newreleasebooks #bookobsessed #bookishcommunity #bookaddicted #freebookreviews #fortheloveofliterature
#bookreview
#silverpebbles #inspectorhunkeler #hansjörgschneider
The Story: A Lebanese man carrying diamonds in his bag is on the train from Frankfurt to Basel, a drug mule on the return journey. At the Basel train station Inspector Hunkeler is waiting for him after a tipoff from the German police. The courier manages to flush the stones away in the station WC. Erdogan, a young Turkish sewage worker, finds the diamonds in the pipes under the station. To him they mean wealth and the small hotel he always wanted to buy near his hometown. To his older Swiss girl-friend Erika, the stones signify the end of their life together. She knows that Erdogan has a wife and children in Turkey. For the courier, finding the stones is a matter of life and death. His employers are on their way to “tidy things up”. For Hunkeler the stones are the only way to get to the people behind the drug trade. They turn out to include not only the bottom feeding drug gangs, but bankers and politicians very high up the Basel food chain.
I usually find books that have been translated quite bitty and hard to follow - Silver Pebbles, however, was easy to read. Despite the simple storyline and few characters, I found it an enjoyable read, if somewhat short. I feel there could have been a bit more drama and would have liked to get to know the characters a bit better.
Summing up - an enjoyable and easy read with an easy to follow storyline
#bookblog #bookreadersofinstagram #bookcommunity #bookaddict #bookworm #booksbooksbooks #nursesthatread #scottishreader #bookmail #bookgeek #bookreviewer #bookreviewersofinstagram #bookobsessed #scottishbookstagrammer #bookaholic #whatiread #readerssupportingauthors #pageturners #bloggergirl #themagicofbooks #bookwormsunited #newreleasebooks #bookobsessed #bookishcommunity #bookaddicted #freebookreviews #fortheloveofliterature
January 13, 2022
What would you do if you found a little stash of diamonds? Take them to the police, sell them or keep them for yourself? This is the question that will pop to your mind while you are reading this story “Silver Pebbles”. But there’s one thing for sure, all actions have their own consequences. Ready?
This story is told between three different voices; the man who enters the diamonds illegally to the country who is now scared for his life after losing them. We’ll see how he entered this dangerous world and now doesn’t know how to leave it. We have the man that finds the diamonds that now thinks he is rich and wants to completely change his life; and of course, we also have the police that wants to catch the head of the diamond trafficking. This is not a book to take sides, only a little sneak peak of the dangerous world of gangs.
But you can see how these little sparkly stones are so dangerous without thinking where they come from and how much money the people are winning with them.
But my favourite character of the story is Erika, the partner of the man who finds the diamonds, the one that sees the danger and doesn’t believe in luck.
This is a book to get lost and understand that nothing is black or white; grey is what rules the world.
Ready for “Silver Pebbles”?
This story is told between three different voices; the man who enters the diamonds illegally to the country who is now scared for his life after losing them. We’ll see how he entered this dangerous world and now doesn’t know how to leave it. We have the man that finds the diamonds that now thinks he is rich and wants to completely change his life; and of course, we also have the police that wants to catch the head of the diamond trafficking. This is not a book to take sides, only a little sneak peak of the dangerous world of gangs.
But you can see how these little sparkly stones are so dangerous without thinking where they come from and how much money the people are winning with them.
But my favourite character of the story is Erika, the partner of the man who finds the diamonds, the one that sees the danger and doesn’t believe in luck.
This is a book to get lost and understand that nothing is black or white; grey is what rules the world.
Ready for “Silver Pebbles”?
January 20, 2022
⭐⭐⭐💫
A man foreign to Germany travels on a train there, he sees stewards checking everyone's credentials and he runs to the toilet and hides something secret upon himself. Out in the station, he runs when chased by police who have been tipped off by a diamond deal. Before they catch him, he flushes the diamonds later to be found by a Turkish sewerage worker, in Germany with his mistress but sending money back home to his wife and children.
And so begins a games of cat and mouse and mouse and cat. A very cleverly written book, translated superbly from its original language.
I particularly like Detective Hunkeler, someone who has fallen out of love with his job and the expectations of it, especially knowing how corruption the police force had become.
This is a goodread and the only reason I have it a 3.5 is because I personally got distracted quite a lot of the time. I think I knew where it was going but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
A man foreign to Germany travels on a train there, he sees stewards checking everyone's credentials and he runs to the toilet and hides something secret upon himself. Out in the station, he runs when chased by police who have been tipped off by a diamond deal. Before they catch him, he flushes the diamonds later to be found by a Turkish sewerage worker, in Germany with his mistress but sending money back home to his wife and children.
And so begins a games of cat and mouse and mouse and cat. A very cleverly written book, translated superbly from its original language.
I particularly like Detective Hunkeler, someone who has fallen out of love with his job and the expectations of it, especially knowing how corruption the police force had become.
This is a goodread and the only reason I have it a 3.5 is because I personally got distracted quite a lot of the time. I think I knew where it was going but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
January 18, 2022
I think this is the first translated novel I have ever read, but this intrigued me. Especially being a fan of crime fiction.
The basic premise is missing diamonds, that have been flushed down a toilet, and recovered by a sewer worker.
It is set in Basel, and it was nice insight into a city I am not familiar with.
The names werent too difficult to get the hang of and it was easy enough to follow the story even with the translation. There were a few funny wordings but I wouldnt expect it to be perfect.
The author has created fully fleshed out characters that I could fully get behind, Erika in particular who I felt I could relate to most.
It is a relatively short book, but flew along with the story. There was a lot happening at didnt slow down at any point. A really fantastic read and I would gladly pick up another book by this author.
The basic premise is missing diamonds, that have been flushed down a toilet, and recovered by a sewer worker.
It is set in Basel, and it was nice insight into a city I am not familiar with.
The names werent too difficult to get the hang of and it was easy enough to follow the story even with the translation. There were a few funny wordings but I wouldnt expect it to be perfect.
The author has created fully fleshed out characters that I could fully get behind, Erika in particular who I felt I could relate to most.
It is a relatively short book, but flew along with the story. There was a lot happening at didnt slow down at any point. A really fantastic read and I would gladly pick up another book by this author.
May 3, 2022
Guy Kayat, a young Lebanese drug courier running from the police, tosses a bag containing a fortune in diamonds into a toilet in a train bound for Basel. Later that night a young Turkish sewer cleaner finds the diamonds and decides to keep them in spite of dire warnings from his Swiss girlfriend Erika. Erdogan is determined to keep the stones, Erika is determined to return them, and Hunkeler, the world weary Basel police officer pursuing Erdogan and the diamonds, is pretty disillusioned with his police department, society’s treatment of addicts and addiction, and the free pass given to the rich and powerful all along the way. The characters are interesting and well developed in a low key but effective way, not a lot of pyrotechnics but a compelling series of portraits of believable people in unexpected circumstances, very well done.
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