Holiday time is reading time. A promising treat has emerged for campers: "If all's well that ends well, then everything" is the title of a new crime novel. Author Volker Klüpfl is no stranger to the genre. Together with Michael Kobr, he created the cult detective Kluftinger, who has been solving spectacular murder cases in the Allgäu region for over 20 years and has now published 13 volumes. Now, Klüpfel has presented his own crime novel as a solo author. The novel follows cleaning lady Svetlana and Tommi, a distraught crime writer living in a mobile home, who are investigating. One evening, the two discover a lonely girl in the woods and become entangled in a dangerous refugee and corruption story. Tommi's real name, by the way, is Thomas Mann, a nod to the Nobel Prize winner.
Motorhome as a lifestyle model
The camper life itself is only touched upon, with the subject of chemical toilets coming up once. Tommi lives in the motorhome and doesn't spend his holidays in it. Consequently, he sleeps in deserted parking lots for fear of being discovered and engages in skirmishes with Horst Kleinschmidt from the public order office. The Hymer 550 BS plays a very special role in this crime story. Tommi's father affectionately refers to it as "an old woman," and other characters also assign this aging motorhome to the female gender, something Tommi can't understand.
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The most interesting character in this crime novel is cleaning lady Svetlana, who constantly spouts Ukrainian wisdom in broken German. She also creates funny words like "Papperlapappe" (nonsense). Sevetlana drives the investigation forward, motivating and manipulating Tommi. Her connection to Tommi's father, whose profession remains a mystery, is only vaguely hinted at in this first volume, leaving readers wanting more. It becomes clear that Svetlana is certainly not really a cleaning lady, even though she does lend Tommi a helping hand and tries to nudge him onto a more constructive path in life.
This crime novel is amusing and a light, easy holiday read that you can easily put down in the evening.
Volker Klüpfel: "If all's well that ends well, then all's well", Penguin Verlag, ISBN 9783328603573
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