The Case of Mister Krumm

About this Translation

This story has originally been written in German, my native language. It is the first part of an episodic detective novel containing seven interconnected cases.

Because this book is self-published my resources are limited. I have translated video games before. But still, the task of translating a whole novel turned out to be an enormous challenge. That's why the translation will happen one case at a time.

My amazing wife Natascha has edited the original novel, knows it by heart and was deeply involved in this translation as well. It is literally a labour of love and not without imperfections. But we hope you will enjoy it.

We chose British English for this translation, because it makes the most sense within the setting of the story.

Last but not least we both would like to thank Graeme, who took time out of his busy schedule to provide invaluable feedback as a native speaker.

The plot of the novel is set in an alternate twentieth century on the continent of Vernia, which resembles Europe in one way or another.

This is not a historical tale of our world or timeline. Compared to our world, Vernia is warped and differs in many details.

After a great cataclysm the land mass of the continent is no longer divided into nations. Cultural and linguistic influences have become entangled to form regions with a common language, but with local differences in the people's way of living. On one hand there is the technology of the industrial revolution, but on the other hand superstition is very strong.

If criminal cases cannot be explained by the state of scientific knowledge, they will be closed. According to the authorities, they could never have happened.