Heinrich Steinfest, AMSTERDAM NOVELLA

Piper - Fiction - Hardcover - September 2021 - 112 pages

The "Amsterdam Novella", short, pointed and fast-paced, ends as it begins, with a photograph: it shows Roy Paulsen from Cologne where he cannot be, in Amsterdam. He has never been there, and yet we see him cycling along a canal. Paulsen could dismiss this picture as a curious story of mistaken identity. But that's exactly what he doesn't do - Paulsen goes to Amsterdam and sets out to find the house that can be seen behind the cyclist. And gets into a deadly confrontation that turns his life in a new direction - towards the very moment of the photo.

• A literary gem

• Linguistic wit, suspense and philosophical pitfalls

• "Steinfest writes the most amusing and intelligent literature of our time." Denis Scheck

• "Heinrich Steinfest has presented a literary gem with the 'Amsterdam Novella', which makes you wonder how much plot, thoughts, moods and twists can fit into 100 pages. A book that one should have read." - Die Presse am Sonntag

• "Heinrich Steinfest determinedly drives the plot forward, which is a pleasure to follow because it is full of suspense and, moreover, not only includes the murder and its solution, but also a sensitive love story." - Freie Presse

• "Original, whimsical and full of unexpected twists - like a Saturday visit to Amsterdam." - Ruhr Nachrichten

• "Amusing and intelligent" - Südkurier

• "A wonderful mixture of suspense and reflection. For Steinfest (...) fills his story with meaning in elegant sentences " - Gießener Anzeige

• "Heinrich Steinfest allows himself a literarily delightful, elegantly playful and convoluted joke with us. A kind of literary snack for people who read a lot and like to read and need something for the time between two perhaps heavier books." - NDR Kultur

• “Brilliant.” - Stuttgarter Nachrichten

• "Sinking into the 'Amsterdam novella' feels about the same as watching a superbly narrated film." - WDR 5

• " An entertaining read, exciting, trenchant, imaginative and with surprising twists - a real Steinfest." - frischvomstapel.com