She and Mark live in wedded bliss with their two children and Mark’s elderly father, Karl. The method of killing is both ingenious and gruesome, it happens to be one of the best written scenes in the book and I won’t spoil it by revealing exactly what happens.įast forward eight years and Blum has married the policeman who discovered her dead parents. After years of psychological and emotional abuse at the hands of her parents, our anti-heroine has hit upon exactly the right way to exact revenge and better yet, make the whole thing appear to be a tragic accident. Now Austrian author Bernhard Aichner has added his character, widow and mortician Brunhilde Blum, to a list stretching from Jim Thompson’s sheriff Lou Ford (The Killer Inside Me) to Jeff Lindsay’s Dexter.īlum is only just an adult when she kills her first victims – her adoptive parents. As readers, we are asked to empathise with every type of criminal, from small time grifters to murderers, sociopaths and even serial killers. Be very, very afraid.Written by Bernhard Aichner, translated by Anthea Bell - Placing the reader in a moral dilemma by asking them to empathise with a transgressive protagonist is something crime fiction has always done particularly well.

As a mother, Blum is touching and relatable, but as a vengeful wife determined to hunt down her husband’s killers…be afraid. “A hypnotic thriller! Aichner plumbs the darkest depths of the human psyche in this compelling tale of a female undertaker. Writing with breakneck narration and rapid-fire dialogue, Bernhard Aichner is poised to follow in the steps of Jo Nesbo, Camilla Läckberg, and Jussi Adler-Olsen to become Europe’s new breakout star in crime fiction. Woman of the Dead, the first book in a trilogy, is an unforgettable thriller about the lengths one passionate woman will go to for vengeance, and about the tug of war between good and evil in all of us. But why? Blum is determined to find out-and to have her revenge. A shadowy group of people wanted Mark dead. She soon discovers that there is more to Mark’s death than meets the eye. Blum grieves, but she refuses to accept her fate. The most important thing in her life, her support and happiness, is taken from her. Then, in one devastating moment, Mark is killed before Blum’s eyes.

Blum has a good life-a life that masks the terrible secrets of her childhood. She has been happily married to Mark for eight years, a perfect union. Blum rides a motorcycle, and likes to spend time with friends and her husband, Mark, a policeman. She is also the loving mother of two young children, adored by those around her for her kind heart, her strength, and her sharp wit. The riveting #1 bestseller from Austria: the story of an undertaker-a “vengeance goddess” with a dark past-who makes a vow to hunt down her husband’s murderers.īlum is a mortician-an outspoken woman in a male dominated profession.

Woman of the dead by bernhard aichner