Dancing in the Dark / Tanz im Dunkel
Thriller
The new novel by the five-time winner of the German Crime Fiction Prize
Rock 'n' roll and revenge in postwar Cologne
Like a lot of people in Cologne in 1959, Adi, Hagen and Gisela listen to rock ‘n’ roll. But they also spend plenty of time on the trail of Salz, the owner of the BMW that ran over their friend Karl. They are none too pleased that Salz’s son gets about painting swastikas all over the city, but what gets at the even more is that the police don’t seem to care at all.
At the same time, Reinhard Clausen is tracking...
Like a lot of people in Cologne in 1959, Adi, Hagen and Gisela listen to rock ‘n’ roll. But they also spend plenty of time on the trail of Salz, the owner of the BMW that ran over their friend Karl. They are none too pleased that Salz’s son gets about painting swastikas all over the city, but what gets at the even more is that the police don’t seem to care at all.
At the same time, Reinhard Clausen is tracking...
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Rock 'n' roll and revenge in postwar Cologne
Like a lot of people in Cologne in 1959, Adi, Hagen and Gisela listen to rock ‘n’ roll. But they also spend plenty of time on the trail of Salz, the owner of the BMW that ran over their friend Karl. They are none too pleased that Salz’s son gets about painting swastikas all over the city, but what gets at the even more is that the police don’t seem to care at all.
At the same time, Reinhard Clausen is tracking down a list of middle-aged men. He is curious about these three kids following Salz, because Salz is one of the names on his list. He was the one who threw the first stone through the window of his parent’s fashion boutique on that fateful November night in 1938. But Reinhard Clausen is not his real name, and he is only in Cologne to avenge his family.
Then there is Chief Inspector Siegfried Hartmann. Drawing ever closer to his retirement, he gets the cases nobody else wants. Like that of the young man named Karl, who was killed on the day of the big protest against the rearmament of Germany. The man driving the big BMW is familiar to him, but he can’t figure out where he knows him from. And gradually, he begins to wonder if there might be something more to all these murders in the city…
Like a lot of people in Cologne in 1959, Adi, Hagen and Gisela listen to rock ‘n’ roll. But they also spend plenty of time on the trail of Salz, the owner of the BMW that ran over their friend Karl. They are none too pleased that Salz’s son gets about painting swastikas all over the city, but what gets at the even more is that the police don’t seem to care at all.
At the same time, Reinhard Clausen is tracking down a list of middle-aged men. He is curious about these three kids following Salz, because Salz is one of the names on his list. He was the one who threw the first stone through the window of his parent’s fashion boutique on that fateful November night in 1938. But Reinhard Clausen is not his real name, and he is only in Cologne to avenge his family.
Then there is Chief Inspector Siegfried Hartmann. Drawing ever closer to his retirement, he gets the cases nobody else wants. Like that of the young man named Karl, who was killed on the day of the big protest against the rearmament of Germany. The man driving the big BMW is familiar to him, but he can’t figure out where he knows him from. And gradually, he begins to wonder if there might be something more to all these murders in the city…
»Max Annas is an excellent time traveller in the service of a reality that many would be all too happy to bury.« Werner Krause, Kleine Zeitung
»Annas’s explosive, compelling and topical political themes are skilfully juxtaposed with his sobre prose and precise character sketches.« Sonja Hartl, Deutschlandfunk Kultur
»It's so great that there are thrillers that not only solve a murder, but also shed light on social issues.« stern
»Annas’s explosive, compelling and topical political themes are skilfully juxtaposed with his sobre prose and precise character sketches.« Sonja Hartl, Deutschlandfunk Kultur
»It's so great that there are thrillers that not only solve a murder, but also shed light on social issues.« stern
»Max Annas is an excellent time traveller in the service of a reality that many would be all too happy to bury.« Werner Krause, Kleine Zeitung
»Annas’s explosive, compelling and topical political themes are skilfully juxtaposed with his sobre prose and precise character sketches.« Sonja Hartl, Deutschlandfunk Kultur
»It's so great that there are thrillers that not only solve a murder, but also shed light on social issues.« stern
»Annas’s explosive, compelling and topical political themes are skilfully juxtaposed with his sobre prose and precise character sketches.« Sonja Hartl, Deutschlandfunk Kultur
»It's so great that there are thrillers that not only solve a murder, but also shed light on social issues.« stern
2025, 237 pages
Persons
Max Annas
Author
Max Annas was born in 1963 in Cologne and has worked as a journalist and editor at publications such as Cologne’s StadtRevue, has written books on political and cultural themes, and has organised film festivals and series. Annas has lived in Berlin since 2016, after spending many years working at the University of Fort Hare in Eastern Cape province, where his research focused on South African jazz. Since his debut novel Die Farm in 2014, he has been writing successful thrillers, for which he has won the German Crime Fiction Prize on five occasions. A number of his novels have been translated into English and French.
Max Annas
Author
Max Annas was born in 1963 in Cologne and has worked as a journalist and editor at publications such as Cologne’s StadtRevue, has written...
© Michele Corleone