In Matto's Realm by Friedrich Glauser

(pb; 1936, 2005. Second novel in the Sergeant Studer series. Translated from the German by Mike Mitchell.)

From the back cover:

"A child-murderer escapes from a Swiss insane asylum. The stakes get higher when Detective Sergeant Studer discovers the director’s body, neck broken, in the boiler room of the madhouse. The intuitive Studer is drawn into the workings of an institution that darkly mirrors the world outside. Even he cannot escape the pull of the no man’s land between reason and madness where Matto, the spirit of insanity, reigns."

Review:

The second Sergeant Studer book is a decent, if overlong read. While Glauser's writing conveys well the sense of insanity in both the world and the institution, he lets a few of his characters ramble on too long about what often amounts to nothing. I understand that he is trying to create an atmosphere where one cannot trust his (or her) senses and that people dance around the veracity of their motives, but when your characters' villainy or better humanity are already somewhat transparent, psychobabble and other unnecessary obfuscations dilute the potential excellence of the story.

Matto's is a worthwhile book for its multilayered themes, mood and characters, just do not expect greatness -- rather, expect a sometimes interesting, flawed work from a fascinating writer.

Followed by Fever.

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Two films resulted from this novel.

Matto regiert (English translation: Madness Rules) was released in Germany in 1947. Leopold Lindtberg directed and co-scripted the film. Alfred Neumann co-authored its screenplay.

Heinrich Gretler reprised his role as Wachtmeister Studer/Constable Studer (Gretler also played Studer in the 1939 film Wachtmeister Studer, also directed by Leopold Lindtberg).

Heinz Woester played Dir med Ernst Laduner. Irene Naef played Margrit Laduner.

Hans Gaugler played Leibundgut. Emil Gerber played Pfleger Jutzeler. Max Haufler played Pfleger Weyrauch. Emil Hegetschweiler played Pfleger Gilgen. Hans Kaes played Portier Dreyer.

Olaf Kubler played Herbert Kaplaun. Adolf Manz played Georg Caplaun.Walter Morath played Dr. med Neuveville. Elizabeth Muller played Schwester Irma Wasem.

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Matto regiert aired on German television on September 14, 1980. Wolfgang Panzer directed the film, from Helmut Pigge's teleplay.

Hans Heinz Moser played Wachtmeister Studer. Walo Luond played Oberst Caplaun. Peter Leu played Herbert Caplaun.

Sybil Buri played Irma Wasem. Kurt Bigger played Dr. Blumenstein. Franz Lichtenhahn played Dr. Laduner. Carmen Klug played Frau Laduner.

Hans-Joachim Frick played Dreyer. Paul Buhlman played Gilgen. Fritz Nydegger played Schmocker. Franz Matter played Jutzeler.

Thumbprint by Friedrich Glauser

(pb; originally published as Wachtmeister Studer in 1936. First book in the Sergeant Struder series.Translated from the German by Mike Mitchell in 1995.)

From the back cover:

"The death of a traveling salesman appears to be an open and shut case. Studer is confronted with an obvious suspect and a confession to the murder. But nothing is what it seems. Envy, hatred, and the corrosive power of money lie just beneath the surface. Studer’s investigation soon splinters the glassy façade of Switzerland’s tidy villages and manicured forests."


Review:

Thumbprint is a good, intriguing police procedural, punctuated with its lead character's intuitive flights of logic-driven fantasy -- one of Studer's idiosyncratic traits. It is these traits, along with Studer's patience, empathy and sense of justice, that lead him to flush out the whys of the novel's events and the motivations of the bad guys (who do not pretend to be otherwise). Good, sometimes chatty tale, this -- one worth reading -- from a writer whose personal life is equally (if not more) fascinating.

Followed by In Matto's Realm.

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Wachtmeister Studer was released in Germany on October 13, 1939. It was directed by Leopold Lindtberg and scripted by Horst Budjuhn, Kurt Guggenheim and Richard Schweizer.

Heinrich Gretler played Jakob Struder. Adolf Manz played Burgermeister Aeschbacher. Bertha Danegger played Mutter Aeschbacher. Armin Schweizer played Gottlieb Ellenberger.

Ellen Widmann played Anstasis Witschi. Robert Trosch played Armin Witschi. Anne-Marie Blanc played Sonja Witschi. Robert Bichler played Erwin Schlumpf.

Hans Kaes played Polizist Murmann. Zarli Carigiet played Schreier. Rudolf Bernhard played Schwomm. Alfred Lucca played Gerber.

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A remake, Kriminalassistent Bloch, was released in Denmark on October 22, 1943. It was co-directed by Poul Bang, from a script by co-director Grete Frisch and Axel Frisch (the film's star).

Axel Frische played Kriminalassistent Bloch. Elith Pio played Kriminalassistent Steffenson. Ellen Margrethe Stein, billed as Ellen Margr. Stein, played Jenny Frank. Sigurd Langberg played Redaktør Philipsen.

Asbjørn Andersen played Frugtplantagejeer Steen.Betty Vølund played Sonja Frank. Jens Asby played Otto Frank. Tove Bang played Berta.