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Quercus, 2008
Reviewed by Helen Lloyd
On a remote farm in Germany, the Danner family and their maid are found
brutally murdered with a pickaxe. Old man Danner was a cruel and
overbearing man who ruled his family with an iron fist. His wife, a deeply
religious woman, was cowed by his brutality. Their daughter Barbara, also
a victim of his abuse, had a daughter from a brief marriage. Several years
later she gave birth to a son and although she never revealed her son’s
paternity, a neighbouring farmer has always claimed he was the father.
The story of what happened on the farm is interspersed with transcripts of
interviews with the local villagers and neighbours of the victims, as well
as prayers. This might sound a little odd, but the effect is quite
stunning and it creates a hauntingly atmospheric book. The narrative is
told from numerous points of view including the victims and the murderer.
The interviews give us different perspectives on the Danner family and the
other people in their sphere. The prayers are a poignant full stop to
events in the story.
THE MURDER FARM is set in the early 1950s, but based on a true unsolved
crime from the 1930s. Schenkel has woven a compelling story around the
events, and produced a brilliantly plausible solution. The clever thing
that she has done is to write it in such a way that the reader is the only
one who discovers the solution.
The writing is beautifully spare, and although THE MURDER FARM is only 181
pages, it says almost as much between the lines as it does on the page. It
is an enthralling story, and one you will want to read in one sitting.
Andrea Maria Schenkel lives in Germany, and THE MURDER FARM is her first
novel. It won first place in the German Crime Prize as well as the
Friedrich-Glauser Prize.
Oct 2008
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