Andreas Winkelmann: Moorland. Die Braut

A devastating moor fire has a region in northern Germany on edge. As the flames spread unstoppably and threaten the landscape, firefighters make a gruesome discovery: a body lies in the trunk of an abandoned car. Shortly afterward, another body is discovered—a woman who has been disturbingly dressed like a bride.

Inspector Malia Gold, who grew up in the moorland region and knows her hometown like few others do, takes charge of the investigation. In her search for the perpetrator, she is supported by her mother, Ruth Sichler, who is known in the town for her extraordinary skills as a tracker. But working together proves difficult, as the relationship between mother and daughter has been marked by conflict and unresolved issues for years. As Malia tries to uncover the connection between the two deaths, the investigation delves ever deeper into the secrets of the region and its inhabitants. At the same time, the fire continues its destructive path. With each passing day, crucial clues vanish, and the danger grows that not only will the truth remain hidden, but many people’s homes will also be lost.

This crime novel combines a multi-layered murder investigation with an atmospheric backdrop of moors, smoke, and fire. At the same time, it explores family conflicts, a repressed past, and the question of whether it’s possible to heal old wounds before everything goes up in flames. Masterful suspense!

Andreas Winkelmann, born in 1968, is a natural-born storyteller. Even as a student, he wrote his first novels in his math notebooks. From there to becoming a bestselling author, he has led a colorful and eventful professional life. He has worked as a baker, a soldier, a fitness instructor, a taxi driver, an insurance salesman, and at a honey factory.
Whether it’s thrilling thrillers, adventure nonfiction, novels, or cozy crime: writing is his passion. He travels the world with just as much passion—on foot, by bike, or in a camper. That’s why he knows a thing or two about life in the wilderness and at campgrounds. It is precisely there, he believes, that one can observe quirky, curious, warm-hearted, odd, or eccentric people—and so there is hardly any other place where all that is human and unexpected depths of the human soul are so densely concentrated.