Murderous Travels by Daniela M. Hartinger

Next stop: The Alps

Welcome back, fellow travellers. Lace your hiking boots and prepare to fill your backpacks with crime fiction recommendations, as we will be crossing the highest and most extensive mountain range set entirely in Europe: the Alps.

While getting ready, let’s start with a warm-up quiz: The Alps span about 1,200 kilometres and cross eight countries. Can you name all of them?

The first countries that come to mind may be Switzerland, Austria and France. However, the Alps also extend through Italy, Germany and Slovenia and two tiny countries: Monaco and Liechtenstein. How many points did you score?

Originally, I planned to take you on an intense, sweat-inducing hike from the outskirts of Vienna (a beautiful city that we’ve mentally visited recently all the way down to Nice, where the foothills of the Alps meet the Mediterranean, and to present you with interesting mysteries to read during your well-deserved breaks in rustic mountain huts.

However, such a journey might take us so long that we could miss the next issue of the Mystery People newsletter. Unthinkable, isn’t it? Also, I realized that I am probably not as fit as I’d like to be and might lose my breath halfway up the first peak.

To spare you all this embarrassing sight, I thought we’d do something different in this edition of the Murderous Travels. So, follow me, dear travellers, to the beautiful village of Inzing, a place you will probably have never heard of – situated right in the heart of the Austrian Alps and located about 20 kilometres west of Innsbruck. Take a seat and enjoy the breath taking view of lavish green pastures and the towering peaks of the Karwendel mountain range.

This is the view that I grew up with. A very warm welcome to my parents’ house!  As it was my mum who sparked my love for mysteries when I was young, I figured it would only be fitting to invite you into her garden to discuss some inspirations for your Alpine to-read list:

Those who prefer complex mysteries with many twists and turns might want to mentally travel to the luxury ski resorts of Verbier. There, Joël Dicker presents us with The Enigma of Room 622 to solve. It may intrigue you to know that Dicker – an internationally bestselling author – established his own publishing company in 2022 and is now self-publishing his works.

For those who desire a more extravagant abode rather than a humble cabin, a grand château in Lausanne may be a more suitable choice. You may even find a body sprawled on the lawn, if you read Swiss Vendetta written by Tracee de Hahn.

Thriller fans might be interested in
Christopher Reich’s thrillers set in Switzerland including Matterhorn (named after the famous and distinctive-looking peak) and 
Rules of Deception.

They could then move on to Alto Adige, with
 Luca d’Andrea’s 
The Mountain /Beneath the Mountain.

If you're not a fan of towering mountains and prefer a calmer atmosphere, you could always visit the bookstore at the centre of Isabella Basset’s Old Bookstore Cosy Mystery series, set in the picturesque canton of Ticino.

For a cosy winter vacation in the

French Alps,

make sure to pack

Susan Kiernan-Lewis’s

Murder in Grenoble

along with the thickest winter clothing.

For an added touch of 1920s flair,
consider checking out Sara Rosett’s Murder in the Alps and enjoying the glamorous winter setting of St. Moritz.

I hope you have enjoyed this little break in the midst of the majestic Alps and conserved your breath for the exciting murder mysteries that you are eager to dive into. But don’t take too long, as we will be hitting the road again soon.
Until next time, and happy reading,
Daniela  

Daniela M. Hartinger grew up raiding the shelves of her local library for children’s detective novels and ended up devouring Agatha Christie and the like. She has combined her literary passion with her enthusiasm for foreign languages to work as a freelance book translator. She also dabbles with writing and can’t resist a bar of chocolate – which, nowadays, she must share with her ever-hungry toddler son.

 www.danielahartinger.com