The Basel Killings

It is the end of October, and the city of Basel is grey and wet. It could be December. Just after midnight, Police Inspector Peter Hunkeler, on his way home and slightly worse for wear, spots old man Hardy sitting on a bench under a street light. He wants to smoke a cigarette with him, but the usually very loquacious Hardy is silent—his throat a gaping wound. It turns out he was first strangled, then his left earlobe slit, his diamond stud stolen.

The media and the police quickly reach the same conclusion: Hardy's murder was the work of a gang of Albanian drug smugglers. But for Hunkeler, that seems too obvious. Hardy's murder has much in common with the case of Barbara Amsler, a prostitute also found killed, with an ear slit and pearl stud missing. He follows his own intuition, and the trail leads him deep into an edgy world of bars and strip clubs, but also into the corrupt core of some of Basel's political and industrial elite. More ominously, he will soon discover the consequences of certain events in recent Swiss history that those in power would prefer to keep far from the public eye.

The Basel Killings takes readers on a gripping journey through mystery and intrigue in the heart of Switzerland. Inspector Hunkeler's relentless pursuit to uncover the truth will captivate anyone who craves a thrilling read filled with unexpected twists and dark secrets.