The Judge and His Executioner. The Promise

Friedrich Dürrenmatt was often called the master of incredible plots. The celebrated Swiss writer admitted that he was compelled to write detective stories out of necessity. Perhaps, the magnificent stylist and master of intrigue was being somewhat disingenuous here. Because it was this genre that brought Dürrenmatt wide recognition. His novels and stories, such as "The Judge and His Executioner," "The Promise," "Suspicion," and others, are considered the standard of the detective genre. Skillfully woven intrigue that keeps readers in suspense until the last pages, rapidly unfolding events, an eccentric main character, unexpected plot twists — all these are characteristic components of Dürrenmatt's detective stories. However, it should be clarified that his literary talent was not confined to the boundaries of a single genre, and a number of works in this volume go far beyond ordinary detective tales...