So here we are at paragraph 4 of a crime novel review and I’ve still to mention the crime. This short extract demonstrates how this structure works. Now we’re on Deck 12 with the Nepalese security officer Lalita Masarangi and her Filipino colleague Joseph Quezón. Or perhaps on Deck B3 of The Spirit of Europa, the cruiser in the laundry with the Syrian stowaway Marwan Fakhouru. Maybe we’re East of Ghazaouet, Algeria with Karim Yacine, the people trafficker, as he contemplates whether conditions are right to launch the refugee boat. This is slightly confusing at the start but it doesn’t take long to acclimatise if you pay attention to the markers at the beginning of each section. Kröger’s novel has a host of characters from various corners of the globe, their stories told in short, alternating vignettes. Presented experience by experience, tile by tile, if you will, they form a collage, an unsentimental, damning collage at that. Given that Merle Kröger’s Collision is based on information she gleaned while making a documentary on the current refugee crisis, I’m pretty sure that the details in this novel are more fact than fiction. Translated from German by Rachel Hildebrandt and Alexandra RoeschĮver wondered about the stories behind the tragedies unfolding daily on the Mediterranean? About the traffickers who fill their boats with refugees? About the local fishermen who catch more than they bargain for in their nets? Or the maritime protocols to be followed when a pleasure cruiser meets an immobilized vessel in the middle of the sea? Winner 2016 Deutscher Krimi Preis 2nd place

Grenzfall by Merle Kröger