The Camera Killer by Thomas Glavinic, a Mysterious Review.

Review: Two couples — the narrator and his partner Sonja Wagner, and Heinrich and Eva, the friends they are visiting for a weekend of fun and games — hear on the news that the bodies of two boys have been found, a video recording their deaths nearby. The scene of the crime is quite close, with police seeking any information from local residents about someone they're calling The Camera Killer, a novel of psychological suspense by Thomas Glavinic. It was originally published in the author's native Austria in 2001 as Der Kameramörder.

The storyline here contrasts the relatively mundane activities of the two couples with the increasingly frantic search for a killer. This is a short book, just over 100 pages, and is well structured and paced … though the subplot about whether or not the video should be aired on television seems unnecessary, adding little to the suspense. The characters are typical of everyday people, friends and neighbors, honest and caring. But as the plot continues to develop, so does the tension. Could one of them know, however inadvertently or even unconsciously, something about the "Camera Killer"? Events covered earlier in the book suggest this may be so … but when all is revealed, it's both a surprise and yet a disappointment that there isn't more substance to what happened and why.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of The Camera Killer.

Acknowledgment: AmazonCrossing provided a copy of The Camera Killer for this review.