Knast oder Kühlfach

Pascha #5

by Jutta Profijt

Dr. Martin Gänseweins Freund Gregor steht unter Mordverdacht. Alle Indizien sprechen gegen ihn und Gregor schweigt zu den Vorwürfen. Auf der Suche nach der Wahrheit stößt Pascha bald auf eine heiße Spur: Die Ermordete war Journalistin und recherchierte wegen mysteriöser Todesfälle in der Seniorenresidenz, in der ihr Vater lebt. Gleichzeitig geraten Gregors Kontakte zu einem zwielichtigen Nachtclubbesitzer in den Fokus der Ermittlungen. Martin ist bei der Aufklärung des Falls keine große Hilfe, denn der werdende Vater ist völlig ausgelastet mit Geburtsvorbereitungskursen, Kreißsaalbesichtigungen, Babyausstattungskatalogen und nicht enden wollender Namenssuche.

Genres: Mystery, Paranormal, Fiction, Crime, Thriller, German Literature, Humor

331 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2014

About the author

Jutta Profijt is a crime novelist and translator.

Author photo (c)Doris Seffern, used with permission.

Reviews

[Sandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always enjoy this series featuring Cologne's two most mismatched crime solvers. The audio version had a new narrator, Todd Haberkorn, who did a great job.

[Tanja · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grossartige fuenfte Geschichte in der Kuehlfachserie! Waehrend ich mir schon ausmalen konnte, vor allem den Hoehepunkt der Story erreichend, dass da etwas faul sein musste, hatte ich bis ganz zum Schluss keine Ahnung wer der Taeter sein koennte. Und natuerlich hoffe ich, dass das Nachwort so etwas wie ein Cliffhanger fuer eine Fortsetzung der Serie ist. Lang "lebe" Pascha!

Great 5th installment of the morgue drawer stories! While I figured, especially towards the climax, that something really fishy was going on, I had no clue who “dunnit” until the very end. And of course I’m hoping that the epilog was something like a cliffhanger for a sequel to the series! Long “live” Pascha!

[Sherron L Pace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not a clunker

This is an interesting story, wording is what would be used commonly used by a Doctor and a thief. Not something made up but real. Complete with four letter and large educated doctor like words.
I love the humour of this author and would very much enjoy reading more books by Jutta Profijt.
I highly recommend reading this book and the other books in this series.

[Margie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ghost Pascha is stuck roaming about Thea earth with Martin - a medical examiner who can hear him - and Birgit- Martins wife. They solve several murders to exonerate Gregor, Martin’s best friend. Pascha’s a bit annoying always trying to sound young and cool. Some of the prose is long winded.

[Ellen Thielen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The characters are really coming into their own in this one. My favorite is still the main one Pascha, who died in the first book. His spirit is still hanging around though...

[Cymantha Erickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun to read

Well paced and entertaining...our ghost pasha needs a new ethereal love interest next. The characters are blending well as a close group.

[George Polansky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Characters keep getting better. Enjoyable read.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am pleased to say Jutta is back on form with this one. A total roller coaster of a ride, pregnant bored Birgit, Gregor arrested and the underworld. Great read.

[A H Rosser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent series.

Excellent series, complicated story lines, great characters, interlaced with humor. Have enjoyed reading the series. Look forward to further books.

[WortGestalt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wer den Geist Pascha kennt, weiß: Pascha ist anstrengend. Das findet nicht nur Rechtsmediziner Dr. Martin Gänsewein, sondern zuweilen auch der Leser der Kühlfach-Reihe. Dennoch schließt man dieses Ermittler-Duo der besonderen Art irgendwie ins Herz und kann in „Knast oder Kühlfach“ nun in ihrem 5. Fall mit den beiden Helden des Alltags wieder auf Verbrecherjagd gehen.

Seit etwas über einem Jahr ist der Geist Pascha nun schon an sein halb-irdisches Dasein gebunden. Der Kleinkriminelle war zu Lebzeiten ein Autodieb, nun raubt er seinen Mitmenschen höchstens noch die Nerven. Genau genommen nur einem einzigen, denn Rechtsmediziner Dr. Martin Gänsewein ist der einzige Mensch, zu dem Pascha Kontakt aufnehmen kann. Mittlerweile ist der Doktor aber in festen Händen und erwartet mit Freundin Birgit das erste gemeinsame Kind. Da ist Paschas Gegenwart des öfteren unerwünscht, zumal von seiner Existenz niemand etwas weiß und nur wenige etwas ahnen. Wie bringt man auch seinem Umfeld bei, dass man mit einem Geist in Kontakt steht? Als nun aber Dr. Martin Gänseweins bester Freund Gregor unter Mordverdacht gerät, werden alle Kräfte benötigt, um seine Unschuld zu beweisen.

In den bisherigen vier Bänden der Kühlfach-Reihe hat es neben Spannung und Witz vor allem die kreative Zusammenarbeit von Geist Pascha und Rechtsmediziner Dr. Martin Gänsewein geschafft, den Büchern das gewisse Etwas zu verleihen und über die ungehobelte Sprache hinwegzutrösten. Wenn ein rüpelhafter Geist an einen schrulligen Rechtsmediziner gebunden ist, hat das schon einen gewissen Unterhaltungswert. Aber soviel ist klar: Geist Pascha ist ein Proll. Ein Prolet, wie frisch dem Nachmittagsprogramm eines TV-Privatsenders entsprungen, der irgendwann zu viel Zeit mit den Machern von „Alles Atze!“ verbracht haben muss und heute wohl heimlich bei RTL II für die Scripted Reality textet. Seine Ausdrucksweise lässt zumindest kaum eine andere Vermutung zu.

Aber Pascha ist eben auch die Seele dieser Buchreihe und als Figur konsequent entworfen und umgesetzt. Bei den Kühlfach-Krimis muss man sich letztlich entscheiden, ob man mit dem Stil zurecht kommt oder nicht. In diesem Band hat es für mich nicht gereicht, mit dem Zusammenspiel der ungewöhnlichen Hauptfiguren von dem schnodderigen Stil Paschas abzulenken. Sein prolliger Wortschatz hat mir diesmal arge Probleme bereitet und ich habe mich beim Lesen mehr als einmal gefragt, wer redet denn bitte so? Hat jemand überhaupt mal so geredet und wenn ja, warum? Und wie hält das die Autorin beim Schreiben aus? Die vermeintlich flotten Sprüche wirkten auf mich diesmal recht lahm und waren von Wiederholungen geprägt.

Auch der Kriminalfall rückte diesmal etwas in den Hintergrund, sodass mir persönlich einfach die Originalität der ersten Bücher abhanden gekommen ist.
Dennoch würde ich gerne einen weiteren Fall von Geist Pascha und Rechtsmediziner Dr. Martin Gänsewein lesen, denn dieses Duo hat einfach viel Potential! Es bräuchte nach 5 Bänden nur vielleicht eine kleine Novität.

Fazit: „Knast oder Kühlfach“ sorgt für unterhaltsame Lesestunden, empfindliche Liebhaber der schönen Sprache bekommen hier aber vielleicht Bauchschmerzen. Nimmt man es mit viel Humor, kann man den Geist und seinen Rechtsmediziner schnell ins Herz schließen. Für alle anderen heißt es, Nerven bewahren! ;)

Bewertung: 3 Sterne

Rezension auch auf:
http://wortgestalt-buchblog.blogspot.com

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great mystery involving Pascha and his Medical Examiner, Martin. This time, he is trying to save Gregor, who has been arrested for murder.

[Emmalynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun adventure! The baby makes its appearance, the gang gather together to save one of their own, detective Jenny finds a backbone at last!

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book free through a Goodreads give-away. Morgue Drawer was not a book that I would normally pick up but the write-up grabbed by attention. I really like the book and wll be hunting down some Jutta Profijt books although they will have to be translated. The book kept me intrigued with the twist and turns. Pascha is a great spirit (literally here) that can communicated with Martin to help solve cases in sometimes a very comical way. I laughed when Pascha was talking to him while he was testifying and he responds to Pascha's comments out loud. There were other instances that almost makes you feel sorry for the kindred spirit. Erik Macki did a great job with the translation.

[Amy Corwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

i enjoy these "morgue drawer" books, and this one was good, but perhaps not as good as the previous ones. For some reason, it seemed to drag a little in the middle, and there were allusions to things that others might get, but I just did not.

The other thing that I noticed was that Pascha didn't make any "forward progress" towards ending his anomalous state. Usually, there is a sense of him progressing, even if it is just a little bit, and the hope that someday, he'll be able to "go towards the light." I kind of missed that sense of character development in Pascha. He didn't seem to change any during this story, and that made it seem a little flatter than usual.

However, the series is still a solid mystery and I will definitely be getting the next one.

[Bill Hoyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strange but really good

To be honest I bought this book because it was 99¢; I figured the price was right so why not take a shot? I'm glad I did. It's a murder mystery with a bunch of twists and turns and narrated by a ghost who communicates telepathically with one of the central characters. You have a ghost who had been a thief that stole high end cars, two pathologists who work in the Cologne morgue (which is where the ghost first made contact with one of them), a pregnant woman who is married to one of the pathologists, a dirty cop, 2 honest cops and an obese, benevolent gangster. Spend a buck and get the book. If you like mysteries tinged with sarcastic, cynical humor and fun characters you'll love Clink or Cooler

[Kaye Stambaugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am now very solidly a fan of Jutta Profijt! This Morgue Drawer series is highly entertaining, good mysteries and Ms. Profit has excellent comedic timing. Our ghost protagonist is a wonderful counterpoint to stuffy Martin, the coroner. In this fifth book, Pasha seems to be maturing a little but is still funny as hell! Eric J Macki does a fantastic job of translating these books into English. Any English speaker can relate to the humor and slang.

The narrator was changed in audio book five and I have to say I missed MacCloud Andrews. Todd Haberkorn does an acceptable job, but I'd grown attached to the voices in the last five books. Ah, but now the wait for book six!

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised by this book. The idea of a ghost helping investigate crimes did not sound like something compatible with a good mystery to me, but Profijt makes it work. She makes the ghost whose name is Pascha the primary voice of the novel. A crime fighting ghost is quite unique in my experience and even though he is dead Pascha is definitely still very human. This was a fun read and I would recommend it to any mystery fan looking for a humorous change of pace.

[Kelly Macfarlane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Again, I want half stars! This is more of a 3.5 -- fun read, I like the characters, the interactions between the characters is always amusing, but maybe this outing was a wee bit forced and excessively slow in parts. Me, if my best friend were in jail, I'd listen to Pasha and *do* something.

Still, a fun few nights of reading and I'm looking forward to the next one. And one of these days, my German is going to be good enough to read it in the original.

[John Hanscom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe as much as 4 1/2. A really clever mystery. I would not have gotten it if the blurb, describing the protagonist as a "restless spirit," had said it was meant literally - he's a ghost. Too often, paranormal means sloppy writing - the author backs the characters into a corner, then, low and behold, there is the Deus ex Machina, and all is well. Now, imagine if the main character IS the Deus ex Machina, and you'll have this book. Cheeky, and often not PC, but fun.

[Lauren Maxey]

Long live Pascha!

Again another hit of a book! I really love this series and I enjoyed having more of a Pascha and Martin involved story. I hope that Profijt keeps writing about them and I hope that Martin can continue to grow! Bridgette also got a lot of action this book and that was really great. It's frustrating (as im sure Pascha knows) that he can only really communicate with Martin so it was nice to see him be able to stretch his communication limits in this book.

[Heather Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Countrylibrarian

I love this series. The only thing missing this time was a ghost to keep Pascha company. The friends all work like a well oiled machine and I can't wait to read the next book when it comes out. Enjoy

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the 5th book in a series but it's the first that I've read. Pascha is a ghost who helps out the coroner and the police solve crime. Set in Germany there are a few differences in procedures but it is a nice cozy series that is easy to follow.

[Linda Roth · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best yet..

I started reading this series since book one and this one was by far the best. Funny yet suspenseful with many turns and twist, very enjoyable light-hearted reading. Looking forward to Pascha's next adventure.

[Jean Manning · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

[Loony.schulte · Rating 3 out of 5]

very nice, still funny

[Donn Lorber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Translated from German w a really really unusual perspective. Thoroughly enjoyed and. Will look for more from the same author

[dee felker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

This was probably my favorite so far of this series. I recommend you start with book 1 and continue with the series, you will not be disappointed.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Morgue Drawer book 5

One friend is arrested, one friend is pregnant and our poor ghost detective is barred! Lots of laughs, excitement and mystery in this volume.

[Dianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this series. Can't wait for the next. Pasha is a great idea !!!!