The Widow Killer (54 page)

The newly appointed superintendent of the Prague criminal police, Jan Morava, stood up from the bench where he sat silently every evening, as always touched the still-fresh tomb with both hands, and quickly walked off to the waiting car.

He had no idea he was rushing headlong into his worst mistake.

The idea for this novel arose on April 13, 1989, in San Nazaro, Tessin. The manuscript was begun on July 12, 1992, and continued to develop through March 9, 1995, in these locations:

Anacapri, Emmetten, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf, Hilesheim, Magdeburg, Vienna, Zürs, Zell am See, Prague, Sdzava, Capri, Berlin, Dresden, Munich.