The Death of the Little Match Girl

Set against the omnipresent pounding of artillery on the enchanting island of Rab, this gripping tale of politics and psychosis juxtaposes one instance of crime against acts of mass murder occurring elsewhere in the former Yugoslavia. When a transvestite prostitute nicknamed the "Match Girl" is cruelly murdered on the Croatian island, investigators are forced to delve deep into Rab's underbelly to find her murderer. From corpse chaperones, pedophilia, and xenophobia to Romanian secret police, exorcisms, and radioactive watches, the detectives are brought face to face with the secrets, illnesses, and deviant behavior of the island's inhabitants.

Zoran Feric is the author of several award-winning titles in his native Croatian. Tomislav Kuzmanovic is cotranslator of A Castle in Romagna.