Self's Punishment: A Mystery [Paperback]

"This compelling tale - the first of three , written with Walter Popp, a fellow lawyer - offers a sharp critique of German postwar society, and its refusal to confront its war time past. The seriousness of this underlying message does not detract from the novel's more entertaining qualities however." (CHRISTINA KONING THE TIMES )

"compelling" (DAILY TELEGRAPH )

"A deserved reprint for a gutsy German detective thriller... This is an atmospheric, tautly plotted narrative with a satisfyingly complex protagonist, elevating an ostensibly pedestrian mystery." (THE HERALD )

"with a cover that is finest film noir... Like all the best fictional detectives he has plenty of curious quirks... Meets the Sam Spade Grade 3/5" (Lorne Jackson BIRMINGHAM SUNDAY MERCURY )

"Here the crime novel becomes the vessel for a more raw, immediate and violent response to the demands of guilt and reparation than The Reader allows... strangely compelling." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

"Gerhard Self is a find. He is likeable, eccentric and on the lookout for women... He is tough without any macho attitude and feels guilt when it is appropriate. He also, without any seeming angst, takes the law into his own hands. I look forward to his next appearance." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

"As in The Reader, the Nazi years cast their shadow and Self finds himself forced to decide matters of life and death. But the darkness of the plot is offset by Schlink's entertaining character with an appetite as he hears 70 for women, cocktails and Sweet Afton cigarettes." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

The bestselling detective novel from the author of The Reader. Available in paperback for the first time in the UK.

Sixty-eight years old; a smoker of Sweet Aftons, a dedicated drinker of Aviateur cocktails, and the owner of a charismatic cat named Turbo, Gerhard Self is an unconventional private detective. When Self is summoned by his long-time friend and rival Korten to investigate several incidents of computer-hacking at a chemicals company, he finds himself dealing with an unfamiliar kind of crime that throws up many challenges. But in his search for the hacker, Self stumbles upon something far more sinister. His investigation eventually unearths dark secrets that have been hidden for decades, and forces Self to confront his own demons.

Bernhard Schlink was born in Germany in 1944. A professor of law at the University of Berlin and a practising judge, he is the author of the major international best-selling novel The Reader as well as several prize-winning crime novels. He lives in Bonn and Berlin. Walter Popp was born in Nuremberg in 1948. He studied law at the University of Erlangen and spent postgraduate and research time in both Cambridge, England and the USA, where he worked alongside Bernhard Schlink. In 1978, he started a law practice in Mannheim before moving to France in 1983. He now lives in a Provencal village with his teenage daughter and works as a translator.