“Kant dared to hypothesize the unthinkable.” In this enthralling sequel to Critique of Criminal Reason (2006), Kant’s intellectual daring inspires not one but two sleuths investigating an unthinkable atrocity. For when a mother and her two children are found dead, their corpses curiously aligned on a cottage bed, the perplexed Prussian magistrate Hanno Stiffeniis (familiar to readers of Critique) must proceed cautiously. Napoleon’s stunning recent victory at Jena compels him to collaborate with Colonel Lavedrine, one of the hated French authorities now governing his conquered land. When Lavedrine reveals his own earlier correspondence with Stiffeniis’ mentor, Kant, the search for the killer turns into a taut contest, as each detective strives to establish himself as the true heir of the brilliant philosopher’s criminological logic. But logic crumbles when clues at the strangely sanitized crime scene send the dueling detectives on a frustrating search for the dead mother’s missing husband. In their arduous search for answers, the reluctant partners cross paths with a brutal gang of bandits, a cowardly undertaker, and a secretive Jewish scholar. The vertiginous plot twists ultimately validate a Kantian wisdom that defies the grave. Fusing philosophical insight with psychological subtlety, Gregorio endows an often-predictable genre with remarkable substance.

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Given to my mother, who is returning to Switzerland today and will read the book on the plane, then release in the town where she lives (Zofingen, Aargau).