Hannes Jensen, a former inspector with the Bruges police, has made a disastrous mistake. Whilst attending a seminar in Iceland he slept with a woman he barely knew. When he returns home to Bruges and to his beloved partner Annick (who is blind), he is still bearing the traces of that fateful night on his neck. Jensen attempts to conceal the wound by wearing a cashmere scarf. He dismisses the idea of confessing to Annick, fearful of the impact this could have on his already rocky relationship. Besides, she has other problems to contend with which she reveals to Jensen upon his return: Her best friend is still reeling from the prophecy made by a fetisheer, an African soothsayer, that her only daughter will be murdered by man with a mark on his neck.
Jensen, who has cultivated a passionate interest in physics, does not believe in fate. He is convinced that life is sequence of random incidents and that nothing is predetermined. Indeed, it seems as if the fetisheer’s prophecy may turn out to be true. The more Jensen tries to resist being drawn into this fateful chain of events, the less he is able to escape them.
The Assistent of the Stars is a novel about fate and coincidence, love and deceit and maintains its suspense until the very last page. In his second book, Linus Reichlin, the 2009 winner of the German Crime Fiction Prize, has once again extended the boundaries of the genre.
“A sparkling highlight of the genre in Germany. Let’s hope there are more to follow.” (Die Welt)
“The Assistent of the Stars is gripping, original and sometimes even philosophical.” (Brigitte)
