3.5
Hunkeler's Secret
ByPublisher Description
Hunkeler, now a retired inspector of the Basel police force, is hospitalized following an operation. He’s sharing a room with cancer patient Stephan Fankhauser, an old acquaintance and former head of Basel Volksbank. One night, a groggy Hunkeler witnesses something that makes him question his senses: a young nurse is administering an injection to his friend.
When he is told the next day that Fankhauser has died, Hunkeler grows suspicious. The body is quickly cremated with no autopsy performed, leaving Hunkeler determined to get to the bottom of the matter. His unorthodox investigation uncovers truths that will threaten Switzerland’s carefully curated reputation of neutrality during WWII
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesHunkeler's Secret Reviews
3.5
“3.5 Stars
I was instantly pulled into the moody, suspenseful world of Basel as Schneider unfolds this mystery.
The death of a prominent banker under suspicious circumstances sets off a complex investigation that delves into the shadowy pressures on Swiss banks and beyond.
What really hooked me was Hunkeler himself: a retired detective who should stay out of trouble but can’t ignore what he’s seen.
His quiet determination and sharp instincts gave the story a compelling human core amid the political intrigue.
If you like atmospheric mysteries with a strong sense of place and a thoughtful, reluctant hero, this one’s for you.”
“Well, I have to admit that I've not managed to get my hands on the first 2 books in this series yet - but having read book 3, The Murder Of Anton Livius, I couldn't wait to dive back into this series.
It's been a while, as I read book 3 almost 2 years ago, so it took me a moment to get my bearings and remind myself of the previous storyline.
Hunkeler is now retired and we meet him spending time on the hospital ward after an operation.
His ward mate is an old acquaintance, sadly suffering from the onset of cancer.
Our case emerges gradually as there are problems with Hunkeler now being retired and the fact he was under the influence of a sleeping tablet - but as other events point to something much bigger and darker, the investigation gathers pace.
Again, we see a really interesting storyline with threads that date back to WW2 and takes a look at the Swiss government.
There's a diverse mix of characters which allows some humour to sleep into the otherwise dark themes.
This could easily be read as a standalone, but I still like to keep the continuity of the character development when reading series.
At just under 200 pages, this one had me flipping pages and finishing in just a couple of sittings.”
“Hansjörg Schneider’s fourth instalment of the phenomenally successful Inspector Hunkeler crime novels, begins on a sombre and timid note. Retired Inspector Peter Hunkeler wakes up in a state of torpor in Basel’s Merian Iselin Hospital after undergoing a successful operation for the excision of a benign tumour. He shares his hospital bed with an irritatingly chirpy patient, who incidentally also happens to be an acquaintance dating back to Hunkeler’s University days. Dr, Stephan Fankhauser, Hunkeler’s constantly chattering companion is suffering from an irreversible bout of cancer. Possessed of a skeletal framework, signalling the end of days, Fankhauser is a name to be reckoned with in the corporate circuits of Basel.
Initially famous or rather infamous for his left leaning firebrand activities as a student, Fankhauser reneges on his own ideology by joining the bastion of hyper-capitalism, the Basel Volksbank before retiring as its director. A few nights before Hunkeler is to be discharged, a strange and unsettling episode occurs in the room housing the former Inspector and the retired banker. A nurse after handing over a sleeping pill to Hunkeler calmly goes over to Fankhauser’s bedside and ignoring the latter’s feeble protestations, administers an injection. Fankhauser begins gasping for breath and before Hunkeler could protest, the sleeping pill takes definite effect and Hunkeler goes into deep sleep.
The next morning Fankhauser’s bed is empty and a bewildered Hunkeler is informed that his fellow patient suffered from a massive heart attack the previous night which turned out to be fatal. Hunkeler initially attributes the nightmarish episode involving the night nurse and Fankhauser as a figment of hallucinations caused by the sleeping tablet before a series of violent crimes specifically aimed at Bankers makes him revise his position. But since Peter Hunkeler is retired and does not have any authority to either investigate a crime or pursue leads, he finds himself in a tight spot.
Hunkeler’s tranquil and uneventful retirement sojourn soon succumbs to the excitement of a major discovery. To add to his existing set of intricacies, his granddaughter Estelle manifests at his doorstep and soon Hunkeler and his trusted girlfriend Hedwig find themselves sharing an apartment with a teen, and due to some inexplicable circumstances, a goat!
The murder of Fankhauser leads Hunkeler into a labyrinth that threatens to upend the much-vaunted Swiss position of neutrality assumed throughout the course of World War II. The pristine white of Basel’s reputation suddenly assumes murky shades of grey fast threatening to culminate in a menacing coat of black. Hunkeler’s quest seems to contain a plethora of questions and not a single plausible answer. Was Fankhauser an accidental victim or a deliberate target? Why are the bankers in Switzerland being targeted specifically by people possessing a violent bent of mind?
Hunkeler’s Secret is a gripping one-sitting read that firmly establishes its author as a force to be reckoned with in the thriller genre. The narrative is exquisite and the plot tight and taut. Astrid Freuler does a capital job with the translation.
Hunkeler’s Secret – A rabbit hole worth plunging into headlong!”
About Hansjörg Schneider
Hansjörg Schneider (born 1938) lives in Basel and began his professional career as a journalist and essayist. He is the author of several highly acclaimed plays and the bestselling Hunkeler crime series, which now has ten titles published. “The Basel Killings” was awarded the Friedrich Glauser Prize, Germany’s most prestigious crime fiction prize.
Other books by Hansjörg Schneider
Astrid Freuler
Astrid Freuler lives in Lidney, Gloucestershire. She is a young translator from German and has published translations of non-fiction and fiction, including the crime thriller A Shadow Falls by Andreas Pflüger. She also translated The Murder of Anton Livius by Hansjörg Schneider
Other books by Astrid Freuler
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