Der perfekte Mord, published in 1961, is a detective fiction

Detective fiction

Detective fiction is a sub-genre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator , either professional or amateur, investigates a crime, often murder.-In ancient literature:...

 novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

 written by German author Frank Arnau

Frank Arnau

Frank Arnau was the pseudonym of a German crime fiction writer, born as Heinrich Schmitt.- Biography :Arnau was born in Vienna, the son of a hotel manager.He began his literary career as a newspaper journalist...

. "Der perfekte Mord" is German for "the perfect murder".

Plot

To celebrate the successful illegal transaction of weapons to Algerian freedom fighters, Nissim Cordanu is going to organise a dinner for ten people at his house. Walter Reyder, head of the Hamburg Police

Hamburg Police

The Hamburg Police is the German Landespolizei force for the city-state of Hamburg. Law enforcement in Germany is divided between federal and state agencies...

research force, is oblivious when he is almost struck by Nissim's car. Nissim immediately recognises his old friend, even though twenty-five years have passed since they met. Nissim invites his old friend for dinner, not suspecting that by doing so, he invites the law as the eleventh guest. When it is announced that a very special hypnosis act will be performed at the party, Reyder decides that it is not yet time to reveal his true identity.