Woman of the Dead by Bernhard Aichner

First published in Germany in 2014; published in translation by Scribner on August 25, 2015

The adopted daughter of a funeral director, Blum has been groomed for the family business. As Woman of the Dead opens, she is getting revenge not just for the lack of love with which she was raised, but for the abuse she experienced from the time she was seven.

Eight years later, Blum has two children with Mark, the police officer who responded to her call for help when her parents disappeared. But this is a thriller, so Blum's idyllic life lasts for only a chapter before Mark is gone and the real story begins.

The real story involves an undocumented Moldavian woman named Dunya who paid to be smuggled into Austria. Dunya tells Blum that Mark was investigating her escape from five masked men who repeatedly raped and tortured her. Blum learns that Dunya was skeptical of Mark's willingness to assist her and that Mark's partner was skeptical of Dunya's truthfulness. As a shield against her own pain, Blum becomes obsessed with Dunya's story of abduction, confinement, and inhuman treatment.

When Mark can no longer pursue the truth, Blum takes up the cause. The men she pursues might be innocent or guilty or something in between. Whether Blum is heroic or a psychopath, whether the men do or do not deserve vigilante "justice," and whether justice is what they receive are the questions that drive's the novel's early suspense. Unfortunately, Bernhard Aichner fails to sustain that suspense despite telling the story in an engaging style.

Aichner provides atmosphere but never burdens the narrative with unnecessary detail. Descriptions of Dunya's torture are not graphic so sensitive readers should be able to read Woman of the Dead without discomfort. While violence pervades the novel, it is understated.

The disturbed nature of certain characters is taken as a given but never explored. The motivations of particularly monstrous (but outwardly charming) characters are left unexplained. I view that as a shortcoming in a novel that is more a psychological drama than a thriller.

One of my primary complaints about Woman of the Dead is that Blum accomplishes much of her mission too easily. People do things she asks (or compels) them to do without putting up much of a struggle. That struck me as unrealistic. The ease with which Blum acts also deprives the story of the dramatic tension that readers expect in this kind of novel. My other complaint is that two supposedly shocking revelations -- one at the end, one near the end -- are much too predictable to come as a shock. That also drained the novel of its potential drama.

Woman of the Dead is moderately entertaining despite its flaws. Prose that is spare and graceful allows the story to move quickly. The novel's structure -- short scenes that sometimes jumble time -- is interesting. I liked the way the story is told more than I liked the story, but I would recommend it subject to those reservations.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS