Nothing is what it seems. No one is who they claim to be. Will the truth come out?

DIE SPUR DES SCHWEIGENS
(The Trace of Silence)
by Amelie Fried
Heyne/Verlagsgruppe Random House Bertelsmann, August 2020 (voir catalogue)

Journalist Julia struggles to make ends meet as a freelance writer and dreams of the big, investigative story. She receives a tip-off about possible sexual assaults at a renowned research institute. Tired of the me-too debate, she only half-heartedly pursues the suspicion at first. But as soon as the first victim contacts her and Julia meets the attractive prime suspect, her journalistic instinct is awakened. At the institute she encounters a dangerous mixture of abuse of power, silence and cover-ups – and a shocking connection to her brother Robert, who disappeared without a trace twelve years earlier. Suddenly Julia has to ask herself unplea-sant questions: What does Robert have to do with the suicide of a Chinese doctoral student? Why was his body never found? Has she been missing something all these years?

Amelie Fried, born in 1958, presented various TV programs. All her novels are bestsellers and were made into successful TV films. She has received numerous awards for her children’s books, including the German Youth Literature Award.