A Well-Timed Murder

December 4, 2017
Near the start of De Hahn’s intriguing sequel to 2017’s Swiss Vendetta, Swiss-American police detective Agnes Lüthi receives a call from aristocrat and growing love interest, Julien Vallotton. Legendary watchmaker Guy Chavanon, a friend of Julien’s, has died from anaphylaxis-induced heart failure while attending a reception at the Moutier Institut de Jeunes Gens—the boarding school where Chavanon’s son is a student. Chavanon’s grown daughter believes her father’s death wasn’t an accident. He had invented something that would revolutionize the watch industry, and she thinks he was murdered because of it. Lüthi’s investigation brings her to the institute, where she learns about a number of strange happenings. When she unearths a series of threats against student Koulsy Haroun, the son of a suspected war criminal who has a peanut allergy, she wonders if Koulsy was the killer’s intended target—not Chavanon. The dynamic setting and fascinating glimpse into the Swiss watchmaking world make up for some of de Hahn’s loosely drawn conclusions. Agent: Paula Munier, Talcott Notch Literary Services.

January 1, 2018
Swiss clocks have a reputation for precision. In de Hahn's second Agnes Luthi mystery, however, the Swiss American police officer investigates a murder in which nothing seems precise. Master watchmaker Guy Chavanon died of anaphylactic shock at a reception where there wasn't a peanut in sight. Aristocrat Julien Vallatton asks for Agnes' help, and she discovers that Chavanon was on the verge of a discovery that could revolutionize luxury watchmaking. She also discovers that her feelings for Vallatton have not subsided since their last encounter. Timing, Agnes concludes, is the key to law enforcement as well as love. The insider's look at the rarefied world of high-end chronometers adds to the appeal of this engaging crime novel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)