Chastity Riley has been sentenced to a stint of forced vacation. She wanders aimlessly through St. Pauli to pass the time, but time refuses to pass. Even Christmas refuses to simply pass her by, instead imposing itself with full force at every turn. As Chastity seeks refuge in dark corners, she stumbles across a homeless man who has been brutally beaten. And then she finds another. She can’t get the cases out of her head, and vacation or no vacation, she begins to investigate. The clues lead – quite literally – to the Hamburg underground and to all forms of human neglect. And just when Chastity thinks things can't get any worse, her long-lost mother suddenly shows up at her door...
Persons
Simone Buchholz
Simone Buchholz was born in Hanau in 1972. She studied philosophy and literature and trained to be a journalist. She started writing in 2008 and her Chastity Riley series has won numerous awards. She lives in Hamburg.
Simone Buchholz was born in Hanau in 1972. She studied philosophy and literature and trained to be a journalist. She started writing in 2008 and...
OTHER PUBLICATIONS

This Side of Heaven

Only the Others are Immortal
Tarik and two other men disappear without a trace on the MS Rjúkandi, a ferry on the North Atlantic. Two women, Iva and Tarik’s partner Marlin, set out to find their missing friends – and board the ship to Iceland firmly convinced that they will soon be home again. But in the first days onboard, they begin to notice strange things and a weird atmosphere: The crew is...

River Clyde
State prosecutor Chastity Riley runs off to Glasgow. Because, for one, there is that letter, written by a lawyer, that lures her to the birthplace of her great-great-grandfather. And secondly, her...
English world rights (Orenda), France (L’Atalante), Denmark (Dreamlitt), Finland (Huippu)

Hotel Cartagena
A chilly hotel bar in the Port of Hamburg. Down on the docks, the lights are shimmering, above the tables are rather sparsely occupied. Suddenly the doors open, twelve heavily armed men...
English world rights (Orenda), France (L’Atalante), Denmark (Dreamlitt), Finland (Huippu)

Mexico Street
In Hamburg cars are burning. Set alight at random every night. But one night on the Mexico Ring, a ghetto of office high-rises to the north of the city, a person is still in his Fiat as it starts...
English world rights (Orenda), France (L'Atalante), Denmark (Dreamlitt), Finland (Huippu)

Beton Rouge
Chastity Riley is chasing a madman. Or at least that’s what it seems like. Because who else would lock high-ranking executives in a cage in the middle of Hamburg? And so Chastity...
English world rights (Orenda), France (L'Atalante), Italy (Emons), Denmark (Dreamlitt), Finland (Huippu)
Domestic Rights Sales: German Audiobook (Hörbuch Hamburg)

Blue Night
»Just for the record: This is an extremely strange night. And strange nights are always a harbinger.«
Due to an unfortunate incident where she convicted a...
English world rights (Orenda), France (L'Atalante), Italy (Emons), Denmark (Dreamlitt), Finnland (Huippu), Turkey (Altın Kitaplar)
Domestic Rights Sales: German Audiobook (Hörbuch Hamburg)

Swedish Bitters

The Kitchen
Summer in Hamburg, it’s far too hot, but Sankt Pauli is glowing – when suddenly, a few extra feet are found floating in the Elbe. Men’s feet, to be precise, and there’s not...
English world rights (Orenda)

The Acapulco
English world rights (Orenda), Finland (Huippu)
