The first novella in a pair collected as “The Inspector Barlach Mysteries,” this piece is incredibly well-crafted. Surprising. And surprisingly engaging.

Written by Friedrich Durrenmatt in 1950, this edition translated by Joel Agee in 2006; published 2006, 90 pages (of 209 total).

First and foremost, a note on style and tone. This novella was written in 1950 by a Swiss novelist and playwright. The translation, I believe, is as deadly accurate as possible – or perhaps the translator made the conscious decision to emphasize a certain tone? You see, this is one of the difficulties with attempting to analyze a work in translation: you can never be certain of the translator’s proficiency and intent unless you are yourself sufficiently competent in the source material. Which I ain’t.
But back to the main point: the tone and style of this novella are not immediately and instantaneously accessible. It’s a little dry, a little plodding. This seems absolutely in keeping for the main character: an older man, a career police officer, a Swiss citizen who by inference must have survived WWII. The story is written third person, focused narrowly through the eyes of the main character, but with carefully limited omniscience.
Now, see, I don’t want to give up the cookie jar. I must proceed carefully.
The story proceeds slowly, cautiously, as is appropriate for a police investigation of that period and culture. Political entanglements further complicate the investigation in entirely believable ways. Hints and clues are dropped. These little nuggets stand out. They are obvious, but their import and meaning are not obvious until the last chapter or two. You’re not going to finish this novella saying, “Goddamn deus ex machina! Goddamn red herrings! Goddamn authorial obfuscation!” No. You’ll end up saying, “So THAT’S what that meant. Ha!”
And that’s the thing. There IS a twist ending. But it is so satisfying. So inevitable. And yet so surprising.
And that dry, somewhat plodding style mentioned earlier? Annoying and distracting at first? Winds up sitting absolutely in service of the mystery itself, and the twist ending.
This is a masterfully constructed story. It requires a little work, a little perseverance from the reader, but the pay-off is so worth it.