The Murder Farm was originally published in Germany to great success. It's a short book, more novella than novel, especially when you consider that some of its pages are taken up by intercessory prayers for the dead. As regular readers of this blog know, I prefer short books, so for me the length is just right. The book is based on a real murder of an entire family that occurred at a rural Bavarian farm in 1922, but the time period has been moved to the early '50s. The book is told through short chapters representing a number of points of view. Residents of the remote community nearest the farm appear to be responding to interview questions about the crime, and in the process reveal as much about themselves and the community as they do about the family. The reader comes to understand more about all this than any of the individuals, and the circumstances leading to the crime are bizarre and unsettling. The original murders remain unsolved, as do the ones in the book, it seems, but the reader learns the killer's identity and motive.
The prose of The Murder Farm is spare and unadorned, and it serves the novel's purpose well. I have no idea how accurate the translation is, but it certainly works well to convey the bleak themes of the novel. If you're looking for something very different, this is one you'll want to try.
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