A lonely taxidermist – a ghastly project – a ruthless hunt…

UNSTERBLICH
(Immortal)
by Michaela Kastel
Heyne/PRH Germany, April 2023

Taxidermist Sonja lives all on her own deep in the woods. She avoids all human contact like the plague, and the inhabitants of the nearby village are in any case convinced she’s a witch. Her clientele is mostly rather suspect, and many of the jobs they give her are unpleasant and illegal. When she meets a young man and feels herself falling for him, she decides to escape her hermit’s life. To do that, she first has to take on one last well-paid and very, very illegal job. But then long-buried trauma and family secrets raise their head – and soon she is not the only one who’s in mortal danger…

Michaela Kastel, born in 1987, has a degree from Vienna University, after which she spent many years working in a bookshop. In 2019, she became a full-time author. Her debut thriller So dunkel der Wald (‘The woods are dark and deep’) won the Viktor Crime Award, and she has been shortlisted for several other prizes.