Author Biography

JAKOB ARJOUNI was born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1964, the son of acclaimed German playwright Hans Gunter Michelson. He wrote numerous books, including the novels Chez Max and Magic Hoffmann, which was shortlisted for the IMPAC Award. But it is for his series of five mysteries featuring the Turkish immigrant detective Kemal Kayankaya for which he became best known. Bestsellers throughout Europe and the winner of the German Thriller Prize, they have also been turend into wildly popular movies in his home country. Arjouni died from pancreatic cancer at age forty-eight in January 2013. ANTHEA BELL is one of the world's most acclaimed translators, best known for her translations of the French Asterix comics and a translator of Stefan Zweig and W.G. Sebald.