Pascha/Sascha Lerchenberg is a corpse (or maybe a ghost), unappealing in life and not much mourned in death; Martin Gänsewein is an articulate, committed and hard working Coroner. For the majority of the story, Pascha’s body is in (you guessed it) Morgue Drawer Four. Did he fall or was he pushed? Who cares?

Sometimes a day that starts badly just gets worse. You wake up hung over, it’s a bad hair day, you try to go about your business, stealing cars and …. it all goes downhill from there.

Sometimes you wake up, eat a healthy breakfast, go to work, carry out an autopsy and then….well, the day just gets worse.

Verdict: In 2010. Morgue Drawer Four was short-listed in the author’s native Germany for a prestigious award for best crime novel. It’s easy to see why – fresh, quirky, clever and intriguing. It’s also very well translated. Possibly a bit too much forensic detail for me, but I enjoyed the originality of the plot. I also liked Martin, even if he does wear a duffle coat and drink tea – I hope everything works out for him! ****