Bernhard Majcen

In her teens, Mme. Zachanassian had to flee her home town in disgrace. Now she's old and rich and the town is facing bankruptcy. But she returns with news that she wants to help - as long as the townsfolk kill someone for her.

History professor Baisch, his depressive and tablet-addicted brother-in-law Anzengruber and a manic cabaret artist have a car accident on a remote country road after a party. Wedged between two trees they get stuck, doors and windows can no longer be opened, the windows made of bulletproof glass cannot be smashed. Injured and with no chance of escape, they wait for days for rescue. Their only provisions are a bowl of herring salad and a few bottles of Prosecco. Fits of rage and fear alternate with overwrought hilarity and desperate fits of crying. But it gets worse...

A young woman is found raped and bludgeoned to death. Her father can’t reconcile himself with her death, and even less with the fact that the murderer was never found. Half of his life he continues the search. Finally, after more than 20 years, as DNA-analysis becomes a factor in forensic medicine, new perspectives open.

For months, the corrupt Viennese policeman Albert Schuh unsuccessfully investigates the murder case of his former friend and colleague. Then he gets a young, overambitious partner. The German colleague Thorsten Richter is a set of correctness and ambition, and thus the exact opposite of the Viennese, the "benefits" from the criminal scene is quite open. Since the two can not stand, the dispute does not stay out. The Austrian stops the German an unnecessary undercover job on an erotic chat line and determined alone on.