Michael Theurillat Books In Order

Publication Order of Inspector Eschenbach Books

Michael Theurillat
Author Michael Theurillat was born in Basel, Switzerland in the year 1961 and is a Swiss author of crime fiction. He studied history, business administration, and art history. He quit his job as an executive with the Swiss bank UBS so he could write full-time.

Michael has been writing since the age of 41. It is a passion that this son of an entrepreneur and literary scholar had from an early age.

Michael benefits from his experience as a bank manager while he writes because it is an industry where evil and good are pretty close together. This is proven by the way the numerous scandals that involves banks.

That being said, crime is not really the main focus of his work. His novels are “social novels where a crime does not happen just because of an accident”.

The third “Inspector Eschenbach” novel, Sechselauten”, was at the top of the Swiss bestseller lists after it was released, with other work making the list. “Rutlischwur” won the Friedrich Glauser Prize, which is one of the most renowned German literature prizes, in the year 2012. Michael has also been called one of Switzerland’s most successful crime authors.

His debut novel, called “Death in Summer” was released in English in the year 2018 after being translated by Ayca Turkoglu. The novel was originally released in the year 2006. He writes about Inspector Eschenbach the Chief of the Criminal Investigation Department in Zurich, Switzerland. His work is from the mystery genre. The novels are published by Ullstein Books.

“Death in Summer” is the first novel in the “Inspector Eschenbach” series and was released in the year 2006. During a hot summer day, Philipp Bettlach (a banker) is murdered by a sniper while out on the sun-drenched golf course, on the fifteenth hole. He is hit by the lethal bullet while in the middle of a stroke. Nobody knows what happened and nobody saw the killer. Philipp didn’t have any obvious enemies, so why would anybody target him?

While conversations with the people that knew Philipp turn up zero evidence, Commissioner Eschenbach, who is assigned the case from out of Zurich, is sure there is more to this story. Eschenbach is unconventional, experienced, and intuitive chief. Surely somebody is hiding something. Could it be the young former lover of the victim, Doris Hottiger? Or could the victim’s seemingly irreproachable ex-wife be holding onto something she is not telling him? Or could it have been Johannes Bettlach, the influential president of a private banker and Philipp’s brother?

Lies and deceit are everywhere, and Commissioner Eschenbach has to get to the bottom of this calculated and mysterious murder.

Readers found this to be psychologically convincing and gripping. This is a solid debut novel and a welcome addition to European crime fiction. The wry humor helps provide relief from the grimness of all the crimes at the center of the case. Readers interested in sophisticated European procedural novels are going to enjoy this book and look forward to checking out more with this character.

“Sechselauten” is the third novel in the “Inspector Eschenbach” series and was released in the year 2010. With the Sechselauten you just drive out the winter in Zurich. A FIFA employee gets stabbed on this official occasion, while not too far away from Eschenbach.

There is a little boy that is trembling right next to the body. Could he have seen anything? What starts as just a spontaneous effort for Eschenbach turns into a harrowing journey right into the past.

“Rutlischwur” is the fourth novel in the “Inspector Eschenbach” series and was released in the year 2011. An employee vanishes without a trace in a renowned Zurich private bank. Jakob Banz, the head of the bank, asks Eschenbach, his old school buddy, for help. Right after, Banz is killed.

Judith, a computer specialist, is suspected of having something romantic going with Banz. Eschenbach is fascinated by her; as she has an uncompromising relationship to the truth and has fantastic math skills. Eschenbach makes every effort he can to prove her innocence. That is much tougher than he expected. Is she playing a double game?

“Tasting Weather” is the fifth novel in the “Inspector Eschenbach” series and was released in the year 2016. A dead woman’s body is found in an isolated piece of forest. Clara Thuring’s body was burned exactly with the Indian ritual, with traces of edelweiss found. It puzzles Commissioner Eschenbach.

The trail of the dead top manager from out of Zurich leads out to Muotathal, which is one of the most remote parts in all of Switzerland. The weather tasters and their families, that live in the rugged landscape continue to remain silent. They are some angular men: incorruptible and straightforward. It is possible to read nature, and know its riches and its danger.

The company that Clara Thuring was working for trades in some raw materials. There, inside the glass palaces of power, Eschenbach is going to encounter one intrigue that is going to endanger his very life before too long.

“Lenz” is the sixth novel in the “Inspector Eschenbach” series and was released in the year 2018. Eschenbach returns from his break, and finds that the world is different. Kathrin, his daughter, move out. The cool and distant Ivy Kohler stays in the department and declares war on him. The biggest shock of all, though is that his old colleague and friend Ewald Lenz has vanished and he is suspected or terrorism. It is said that Lenz switched sides with his rather enormous technical skills and insider knowledge. Ivy Kohler let him go for shooting.

There is a dead guy found in Zurich. His name is Walter Habicht, age 62, and word is that he killed himself out of loneliness. The commissioner doesn’t buy it and the way he starts to deal with Walter borders on obsession, since he was close to the same age as him. Eschenbach discovers a rare piece of gold from the dead guy’s apartment and from Ivy Kohler’s desk, he stands up against the whole department and investigates the case by himself.