The third in the Black Forest Investigations series - by CWA shortlisted author

One wet and misty weekend in October, the Niemann family find a stranger in their garden. He is armed and tries to force his way into the house, but disappears as soon as the police are alerted. That night he's back with an impossible ultimatum . . .

Freiburg detective Louise Boni and her colleagues are put under enormous pressure. Traces of evidence lead her to a no-man's-land, and to a ruthless criminal who brings with him the trauma of conflict in the Balkans.

Translated from the German by Jamie Bulloch

Bottini's novels are infused with his knowledge of the darker corners of European history, showing its impact decades after the horrific events that drive his plots. -- Joan Smith * Sunday Times. *
It's a clever writer who can take something familiar and seemingly ordinary and twist it into something surreal and off-kilter, blackly comic but deadly serious. -- Paul Burke * New Books Magazine. *
The real pleasure with The Dance of Death is the artfully structured narrative that Bottini presents; he is always able to surprise the reader, even those who feel that there is nothing in the crime-fiction genre that they have not read before. -- Barry Forshaw * Euro Lit Network. *
A piercing examination of our reality . . . Bottini uses the full potential of the genre to look deep into humanity's abyss and sees there the concealed traumas of German society -- Tomasz Kurianowicz * Die Zeit *
Oliver Bottini is a terrific storyteller and he evokes his setting - the Rhine borderlands of the Black Forest - with skill -- Jake Kerridge * Sunday Express *
Oliver Bottini, one of the few German authors who play in crime-writing's premier league, really knows how to tell a good story * Frankfurter Rundschau *
If you are a fan of the Harry Hole series by Jo Nesbo or the Icelandic trilogy written by Lilja Sigurdardottir then I recommend that you add the Black Forest Investigations to your reading list . . . * A Literary Addict *
Heavily atmospheric and wittily subtle in its treatment of belonging . . . If you're a fan of Jo Nesbo, Stefan Ahnehm, Yrsa Sigurðardóttir then this book is definitely for you . . . * VelvetReads *

Oliver Bottini was born in 1965. Five of his novels, including ZEN AND THE ART OF MURDER and A SUMMER OF MURDER of the Black Forest Investigations have been awarded the Deutscher Krimipreis, Germany's most prestigious award for crime writing. ZEN AND THE ART OF MURDER was shortlisted for the 2018 CWA International Dagger. He lives in Frankfurt. www.bottini.de.