I’ve been trying read more contemporary European fiction and stumbled across the work of Martin Suter, which I’ve enjoyed so I’ve now read three: THE LAST WEYNFELDLT is about the sexual re-awakening of middle-aged bourgeois as he gets caught up in an art forgery scam; MONTECRISTO is about a video journalist and wannabe filmmaker who in the wake of Lehman Brothers discovers a bank cover-up that could threaten the entire Swiss banking system; and THE CHEF is about a Tamil dishwasher who sets up an erotic dinner business with a friend and uncovers another banking scam amongst the upper classes. The books are light, elegant mysteries, dealing with the stocks, bonds, food and art of the upper classes; all are set in Zurich, with a nice feel for detail and what seems like insider’s knowledge. It’s crime solving á la Sunday Times Supplement, well-written, elegant, addressed to the middle-classes though not unaware of the rest of the world and really quite enjoyable if you’re not looking for anything too demanding.
José Arroyo
