‘The Invisible Web’ by Oliver Bottini.

Translated by Jamie Bulloch.
Published by MacLeHose Press,
25 May 2023.
ISBN: 978-1-52940-919-2 (TPB)

Despite the deceptively easy-reading and simple presentation of Bottini’s narrative, there is little that is straightforward about the characters or their behaviour in The Invisible Web.

The action starts in a Berlin hotel where Mike Reuter - role unknown at this point - beats up a man loitering outside a room inhabited by Esther Graf. The domestic and foreign German intelligence agencies are also watching Esther who works for the energy company Go Solar.

In Freiburg we meet CI Louise Boni, the driving force behind the investigation. Louise is a recovering alcoholic with psychological issues, noises in her head, and an ambivalent attitude towards her boyfriend. She is not a team player, but her investigative instincts are excellent. Her immediate boss, Rolf Bermann, sends her to Berlin where she decides that the scenario in the hotel needs more scrutiny. Reinhard Grave, her chief at Kripo, the German polices’ criminal investigation department, agrees with Louise.  The intelligence agencies are not happy. They want Kripo to abandon their investigations, inferring that the security of Germany is at risk.

Presumably they mean the economic security.  Solar energy is a growing industry.  If industrial spies, possibly from a foreign nation, steal secrets from Go Solar, the company could collapse and the future wealth of the country be compromised. But what is Esther’s role in all of this? Who is Mike Reuter?  Why does he keep popping up when Esther is in danger?  The stakes are high.  Men are killed and a policeman dies.  What is going on and who is pulling the strings?

This is book five the CI Louise Boni series. Earlier traumatic incidents that have taken their tole on Louise are not described, but this does not impinge on the integrity of this particular story. Rather, it might encourage one to seek them out and discover what has happened in the past.  Louise is struggling both physically and mentally, though on a brighter note, a positive outcome to her romantic relationship is suggested at the end of the book. Like a spider in his web, Bottini draws you into his tale and doesn’t let you go until the end is reached.
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Reviewer: Angela Crowther
Other books by this author:  Zen and the Art of Murder, A Summer of Murder, The Dance of Death, and Night Hunters.

Oliver Bottini was born in 1965. Four 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. In addition, his novels have been awarded the Stuttgarter Krimipreis and the Berliner Krimipreis. He lives in Berlin.

Angela Crowther is a retired scientist.  She has published many scientific papers but, as yet, no crime fiction.  In her spare time Angela belongs to a Handbell Ringing group, goes country dancing and enjoys listening to music, particularly the operas of Verdi and Wagner.