It’s open season on bears in the Carpathians. The animals are lured to feeding sites and killed by wealthy hunters from the west.
Diana Steinkamp, junior boss of a shoe empire that manufactures its wares in Rumania, alerts the Hamburg-based Magazin to the issue. Reporter Hannes Schreiber is put on the story, assigned to accompany Diana’s protégé, the animal rights activist Teddy. Teddy manipulates the feeding sites to keep the bears away, constantly on the alert against the corrupt forest rangers. The situation escalates when Hannes and Teddy are attacked one night and the senior ranger is shot to death. The chief suspect is Teddy – but he has vanished without a trace in the Carpathian forest.
Werner Schmitz’s mysteries stand out for their convincing stories and a language that is as straightforward as it is expressive.