Snow White Must Die: A Novel (Pia Kirchhoff and Oliver von Bodenstein, 1) Paperback – December 24, 2013

Snow White Must Die by Nele Neuhaus is one of the best books I’ve read recently. The plot is absolutely brilliant, the characters are quite deep and it contains more twists and turns than a road mountain.Some people complain that there are too many and lengthy descriptions making it sound as something that is unnecessary. I disagree. Those descriptions and subplots contribute to give the characters some credibility and depth, they add elements that allow the readers to analyse the state of mind of the characters, the quality of a relationship or the importance of an action.What pleased me more than anything else was the way the story played with me as a reader. I spent most of my reading trying to anticipate what was going to happen next, who the criminal might have been, and when I thought I had it all figured out a new light was cast over a character, a new detail was revealed and I was forced to put everything in perspective and start all over again.At the end the reader starts wondering who the innocents are after all.

This is a compelling thriller, with a strong plot line, and a good read overall. The story centers on Tobias Sartorious, who has returned to his home town after serving nine years in prison for the murder of two girls. The evidence, we are told, was entirely circumstantial, but the townsfolk have no doubt about Tobias' guilt. They have ruined his father and driven his mother out of town, and are all set to turn on Tobias when he returns. But is he guilty? The plot thickens, of course, and then thickens some more, producing new crimes and the arrival of our detective duo on the scene. They have their own issues, personal and political, further complicating a complicated plot.Despite the complexity, I found it a compelling read, though I did have to stop from time to time to figure out how character X was linked to character Y. In addition, the translation feels clumsy at times (slang words in particular don't sound right). Finally, the plot does move into the Grand Guignol territory so beloved of Swedish crime novelists, so be prepared to tolerate a bit of implausibility. Overall, however, this thriller did its job -- it kept me turning the pages, a good bit further into the night than I had intended. I have already started reading another novel in the series, and look forward to proceeding through what's available in English.

This is a very, very good book. The author is new to me but I intend to get her other books as soon as I can track them down. She is German and this book is set in a small German village where eleven years earlier, two young girls disdappeared and were assumed to have been murdered. A young man, just released from gaol at the beginning of the book, is the supposed murderer. He is not welcome and as the story progresses, the whole of the village population seems to be involved in some way.The plotting is extremely clever and the writing keeps the reader dashing from one scene to another. Rather in the way of Frederick Forsyth, where we are following a character, only to be suddenly transported to another. I enjoyed this book enormously and have no hesitation in recommending it to all crime story lovers.

As other reviewers have said, the murders, mystery and resolution are good page turners and an enjoyable read. But the twists and turns are overly melodramatic and the pace is poorly mantained. In addition to the regulation Lisbeth Salander - character (without which no murder is now complete), this book also has an autistic savant, an evil megalomaniac, a corrupt cop..you name it!I did keep turning the pages in all honesty, to see who -done -it, but then also kept getting bogged down with all the unnecessary, endless and somewhat tedious fillers about the private lives, woes and mundane events taking place in the lives of all the investigators.Oh, and ultimately..the end was a bit of a disappointment..

I was very interested in reading this, as I grew up in Frankfurt and know the Taunus Mountain area very well. The author is an acquaintance of a friend of mine in Germany, and she recommended her books to me. So I, of course, had to try it. By and large it is a book that at times fascinates beyond belief and at other times is somewhat murky. In one beginning chapter there are so many people thrown at the reader and that was a bit disconcerting. I would have preferred fewer people and slower introductions, but the plot is good and keeps up the interest. The private lives of the two detectives, however, were less interesting and could have used less page space. Perhaps it was meant to explain their stance towards the principal characters, but I found it unnecessary and somewhat boring. It is, however, otherwise well written and easy to read, and - of course - I enjoyed the mentioning of lovely familiar places enormously. I would just hope that the people of the Taunus Mountains are not all so weird and backward, as I know they are not.

"Snow White Must Die" is one of the best mysteries I have read in a long time. It was a bit reminiscent of "Girl with the Golden Tattoo" but less detailed and a much faster read. The basic story is that two girls have disappeared ten years ago in a small German town. Now the man accused of their murders is out of jail and coming back home to straighten out the lives of his family and himself. After the initial plot line is out of the way, the reader gets to sit back and learn all about the dirty little secrets of the town and the man who runs it. There are many plots within the plot and they weave in and out with perfect ease. Neuhaus keeps the book in short chapters, and just as you finish one of them and can't wait to continue, she switches characters, but that's okay because the new character has a tale that adds to the plot as well. It really fits the old cliche as being a book "you just can't put down."