Snow White Must Die

By: Nele Neuhaus

Narrated by: Robert Fass

Length: 15 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

On a rainy November day, police detectives Pia Kirchhoff and Oliver von Bodenstein are summoned to a mysterious traffic accident: a woman has fallen from a pedestrian bridge onto a car driving underneath. According to a witness, the woman may have been pushed. The investigation leads Pia and Oliver to a small village, and the home of the victim, Rita Cramer.

On a September evening eleven years earlier, two seventeen-year-old girls vanished from the village without a trace. In a trial based only on circumstantial evidence, twenty-year-old Tobias Sartorius, Rita Cramer's son, was sentenced to ten years in prison. Bodenstein and Kirchhoff discover that Tobias, after serving his sentence, has now returned to his home town. Did the attack on his mother have something to do with his return? In the village, Pia and Oliver encounter a wall of silence. When another young girl disappears, the events of the past seem to be repeating themselves in a disastrous manner. The investigation turns into a race against time, because for the villagers it is soon clear who the perpetrator is - and this time they are determined to take matters into their own hands.

©2010 Nele Neuhaus (P)2012 AudioGO, Ltd.

Keep listening

After the first hour I was so bored by the story I almost quit listening. I told myself to give it one more hour and after that make my decision. Well, needless to say, I was hooked and couldn’t wait to listen on my daily walks. Narration is awesome.

Better than most available.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this audiobook because it was entertaining and relatively fast paced.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

The plot had a few too many coincidences but if you didn't think too hard it was good.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

I wouldn't.

My What A Big Cast Well Woven Together

So much happening. An engaging back story, two actually... woven into a curious whodunit. Like the medieval feelings that Neuhaus seems to pour over his tiny village life. Not great, just good. Which is always good enough, right?

Months later my mind still wandered back to this

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. The variety of characters and motivations for their individual actions kept you guessing.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Tobias - You sympathized with him from the beginning knowing he was wrongfully accused, yet unable to prove it due to his intoxication.

didn't see that coming, again and again......

This is pretty much a German version of a classic British genre -- murder and mystery in a small village where everyone knows everyone else and they're all hiding each other's secrets. That's good; I like that type of story, and this one doesn't disappoint - mostly. If anything, it's a little too convoluted, with new revelation after new revelation. Still, I liked the mystery, the main characters, and the narration, and I enjoyed the glimpse into German life and lifestyle a little (this is the first German novel I've "read").

Great mystery import

Like many others, I was intrigued by the title, Snow White Must Die. I don't often venture into mystery books, but fortunately my curiousity got the best of me this time. This book, translated from from the German and set in a seemingly quaint German village, quickly shows that village life can be far from idyllic.

What I loved most about this book was that no one in Tobais's village is what they seem and every member is hiding some kind of secret. Tobais's return to Altenhein quickly sets in motion a chain of events which begins to unravel years' old secrets that when uncovered have the potential to ruin more than one person's life. I found the mystery engaging, suspenseful, and more importantly unpredictable.

I hope to hear more from the author soon!

Too many players

Would you try another book from Nele Neuhaus and/or Robert Fass?

No the style of writing and story telling remind me a lot of the girls the Dragon tattoo series

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Would've been more enjoyable if there were less characters and focus more on the main characters involved in the plot and on the character development rather than all these long drawn out back stories and all these characters names that just make the whole plot convoluted and unnecessarily complicated.

What about Robert Fass’s performance did you like?

I think he portrayed the voices of the characters well when he switched from character to character you already knew who they were even if the name didn't come up. He also portrayed the emotion the characters were going to really well

Do you think Snow White Must Die needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Yes and no I feel like you need one more chapter to explain what happens to the main characters not the 2 detectives but the two main characters involved in the crime.

Any additional comments?

This really reminded me a lot of the girl with the Dragon tattoo it takes a long time to get going but when it does becomes very interesting. too many characters to keep track of, too many back stories to remember and then you don't get enough emotion or character development and even though you do become invested in the main characters it doesn't pay off in the end because she focuses mainly on the two detectives and leaves the other main characters that you've come to care about to the side. Also too many motives everybody goes down and becomes too convoluted spoiler alert whole town involved in a cover up. I did like how she did describe emotional parts and the characters the way that she describes them you really can pictured in your head what they're going through what they're feeling.

Brava!

Any additional comments?

This is a Very good story, in that it keeps you interested, surprised, and involved. It has a wonderful flow, and the reveal isn't what I was expecting. I will continue looking forward to Ms Neuhaus' books.

I would also like to add that the translation from German to English was done very well.

Thank you!

Twists and Turns

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

You just can't totally guess where this story is going. Pay attention.

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the fact that it was a story with many mini stories going on within the theme of the whole.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Absolutely! It would be a entertaining thriller.

I figured it out in the first chapter.

Would you try another book from Nele Neuhaus and/or Robert Fass?

I might buy another book from him

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

I like that it was set in Germany.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Narration as very good as always.

Was Snow White Must Die worth the listening time?

It's nice to listen to, but it didn't surprise me considering I pretty much knew what would happen the entire time.