SINNER, by Petra Hammesfahr

(originally published on December 13, 2007)

The murder of a man on a beach seems so straightforward. After all, young mother Cora freely admits to the crime, which she committed in front of witness, after an inexplicable decision to kill someone else instead of herself. But as German bestseller Hammesfahr demonstrates with the exact precision of a neurosurgeon, what seems obvious is anything but, with layer after layer of horrific past events and festering feelings waiting to be revealed. THE SINNER is unnerving and weird and guaranteed to stick with you weeks later.