Odstíny zločinu – Beran Ladislav (2020)

When the emeritus commissioner of the criminal service from Písek, Ladislav Beran, declared years ago that he considers himself more a storyteller of criminal cases than a writer, he had half the truth, as he manages both to the satisfaction of thousands of readers. The popularity of this crime author is evidenced by more than forty published books, mostly with criminal themes, both contemporary, where he describes the work of the Písek criminal police (Studnička-Mach), and from the 1930s, where cases are investigated by the legendary Písek gendarmerie detectives (Captain Votruba, Sergeant Hřebejk, and others). The fact that the Písek author returned after years to the former member of the Prague murder squad, Michal Moudrý, and his "Friday meetings," which take place in the famous Písek restaurant U Reinerů, where they discuss not only past crimes but also current ones, is described in "Murders in the Heat of Passion," "Chilling Touches of Crime," and "When a Woman Kills." Even in these three works, there is no lack of knowledge of the criminal environment, professional detachment, humor, humanity, and readability, which are characteristic of Ladislav Beran's work.