Volker Klüpfel

I was very happy when I unpacked the book. The handprint on the cover is like an imprint, which is pleasant to the touch. Furthermore, it has three bookmarks in the colors of the Tricolore, so one feels already arrived in France.

I would place this story in the crime comedy genre. I often felt as if I had been transported back to the time of the classic French rogue comedies of the 1960s with the great French actors. Unfortunately, this story cannot maintain the humorous and content-related tension.

In the first third, the protagonists are introduced, whereby one is already confronted with the corpse. Guillaume Lipaire, an elderly German bon vivant, Karim Petitbon, who is madly in love with Jaqueline and no longer wants to be Lipaire's 'servant', Delphine, who has a flair for IT, Quenot, a former Foreign Legionnaire and a good friend of Lipaire's from earlier times , Madame Lizzy, an aging diva with her lap dog Louis and Jaqueline, the student involuntarily team up to solve a mystery. Their opponents are the Vicomte family, who are on the brink of ruin unless the hidden treasure is found there.
Much of this first part is predictable, a bit long-winded and very clichéd, so it took me a long time to warm up to this story.
The middle part was very humorous. There is also a new phantom, which I am not able to convince until the end. The Lipaire team pulls together and tries to find the treasure with turbulent actions. It often reminded me of the old French rogue comedies and made me smile. I hoped, for her sake, that her venture might succeed, for the Vicomte family was not my favorite with their superficialities.

Unfortunately, the ending was very lame. The suspense cannot be sustained until the end. To the credit of the authors, old enmities have been resolved and unusual friendships have emerged. The Phantom is also making a comeback, suggesting there might be a sequel. But precisely, this phantom doesn't put me in a state of suspense so that I might read a sequel.… (more)

Es ist November, da sollte man sich doch mal auf Weihnachten vorbereiten. In diesem Jahr habe ich als erstes Buch mit weihnachtlichen Thema diese Kluftinger-Geschichte gelesen und habe herzhaft darüber gelacht. Erika fällt beim Baumschmücken von der Leiter und muss kurz vor Weihnachten ins Krankenhaus - also bleibt die gesamte Weihnachtsvorbereitung, einschließlich der Bespaßung des spontan angekündigten Gastes aus Japan, an Klufti hängen. Und wie könnte es anders sein, es geht alles schief, was schief gehen kann. Eine unterhaltsame Geschichte für Fans der Reihe.… (more)

Dieser Roman aus der Reihe hat mir sehr gut gefallen. Nachdem ich zwischendurch das Gefühl hatte, der Humoranteil nimmt Überhand (und gleitet in Slapstick ab), fand ich das Verhältnis hier wieder sehr ausgewogen - es gab durchaus humorvolle Szenen, aber der Fall und seine Bedeutung für Kluftinger stand im Mittelpunkt. Sehr gut gefallen hat mir auch, dass das Team (zwangsweise) nicht mehr so statisch war. Der Verlust (im letzten Band) und der weibliche Neuzugang haben da doch ordentlich für Wirbel gesorgt. Ich freue mich auf weitere Bände.… (more)