Jezero – Golob Tadej (2024)

How to find a murderer when you don't know who the victim is? The star of Slovenian crime fiction, Tadej Golob, is making his debut for Czech readers. ***** The Lake is a Slovenian noir detective novel set in winter around Lake Bohinj in the heart of the Alps. Taras Birsa, a police inspector from Ljubljana, a slightly cynical man in his fifties, is returning from skiing on the slopes of Vogel on New Year's Day. It's snowing and visibility is poor. The wheels of his Škoda Octavia struggle to stay on the white road. Then the inspector spots lights in the distance. ***** A police car is parked by the road. The doors are open, and there are no police officers in sight. Taras follows the fresh tracks to the river, where the lights of the police flashlights flicker like in a time-lapse film about fireflies. In the water beneath the partially frozen surface, they find the body of an unknown young woman. Who is the victim? Who is the murderer? Is the perpetrator a lonely madman, or did this unknown woman disappear due to a secret conspiracy? ***** In the novel, Golob also emphasizes the theme of the pharmaceutical industry and its profits, new formulas that are kept so secret that they are worth killing for... Inspector Taras Birsa must navigate the case alongside a group of brave doctors, including his wife.