When neatly packed male body parts wash up by the River Elbe, Hamburg State Prosecutor Chastity Riley and her colleagues begin a perplexing investigation.
As the murdered men are identified, it becomes clear that they all had a history of abuse towards women, leading Riley to wonder if it would actually be in society’s best interests to catch the killers.
But when her best friend Carla is attacked, and the police show little interest in tracking down the offenders, Chastity takes matters into her own hands. As a link between the two cases emerges, horrifying revelations threaten Chastity’s own moral compass, and put everything at risk…
The Kitchen by Simone Buchholz was published on 11 April 2024 by Orenda Books and is translated by Rachel Ward. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this Blog Tour.
So, explanations of context out of the way .... what about The Kitchen?
It's the height of summer in Hamburg and the temperatures are rising daily. Almost unheard of heat envelops the city, bringing out the drinkers on street corners, making people lethargic and angry. It's not a nice heat and doesn't show Hamburg at its best.
Chastity is finishing off the paperwork for the last case she worked on. A case that affected her deeply, more young women traumatised and exploited by men, she gets very angry. When male body parts are found in the city, neatly packaged up, Chastity can't quite find the anger that she had for the last case. When another body is found and the link between these men seems to be that they all have a history of violence towards women, it's even harder for her. However, she's a professional and she and her team are determined to get to the bottom of what is going on.
Interwoven between chapters, there's a narrative from an unknown source. This narrative is frightening and anger inducing, a whole sorry tale of the experiences of a woman at the hands of men. Not always overly violence, but intrusive, unwelcome and intimidating. The narrator is angry.
This is a truly brilliant piece of writing. It's a short novel that packs such a punch. Simone Buchholz writes with a passion and insight that makes the skin creep at times. It is wonderfully translated from German by Rachel Ward, and thank goodness, for I'd hate to think that I would miss out on this exceptional series.
Very dark at times, with a clear message and packed with colourful, complex, often disturbed characters. I realised just what was happening a couple of minutes before Chastity did, and it is horrifying, yet the action that Chastity takes when she solves the case is unexpected, but extremely satisfying.
Another perfectly formed novel in the Chastity Riley series. Highly recommended.
French to English.
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