Saturday, March 30, 2019

Review: The Execution of Justice by Friedrich Durrenmatt

The Execution of Justice
Synopsis: A respected professor is dead - shot in a crowded Zurich restaurant, in front of dozens of witnesses. The murderer calmly turned himself in to the police. So why has he now hired a lawyer to clear his name? And why has he chosen the drink-soaked, disreputable Spat to defend him? As he investigates, Spat finds himself obsessed, drawn ever deeper into a case of baffling complexity until he reaches a deadly conclusion: justice can be restored only by a crime.


Interesting concept - a very public murder; a known killer; an unknown motive; an disorientating plot; the verdict - "justice can be restored only be a crime".

The plot is very disorientating - one never knows whether we are looking back, looking forward, or are in the moment (as my copious notes will attest). This may be as a result of the length of time it took to complete the novel (approx 30 years); instead the story weaves and totters like its alcoholic narrator. The twist at the end ... clever.

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