Morgue Drawer Four

Written by Jutta Profijt

Narrated by MacLeod Andrews

Coroner is the perfect job for Dr. Martin Gänsewein, who spends his days in peace and quiet autopsying dead bodies for the city of Cologne. Shy, but scrupulous, Martin appreciates his taciturn clients—until the day one of them starts talking to him. It seems the ghost of a recently deceased (and surprisingly chatty) small-time car thief named Pascha is lingering near his lifeless body in drawer number four of Martin’s morgue. He remains for one reason: his “accidental” death was, in fact, murder. Pascha is furious his case will go unsolved—to say nothing of his body’s dissection upon Martin’s autopsy table. But since Martin is the only person Pascha can communicate with, the ghost settles in with the good pathologist, determined to bring the truth of his death to light. Now Martin’s staid life is rudely upended as he finds himself navigating Cologne’s red-light district and the dark world of German car smuggling. Unless Pascha can come up with a plan—and fast—Martin will soon be joining him in the spirit world. Witty and unexpected, Morgue Drawer Four introduces a memorable (and reluctant) detective unlike any other in fiction today.

Morgue Drawer Four was shortlisted for Germany’s 2010 Friedrich Glauser Prize for best crime novel.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Translator: Erik J. Macki
• Release date: Feb 15, 2012
• ISBN: 9781455876563

Jutta Profijt

Jutta Profijt was born in 1967 in Ratingen, Germany. After finishing school, she lived abroad working as an au pair, an importer/exporter, a coach to executives and students, and a business-English instructor. She published her first novel in 2003 and today works as a freelance writer and translator. Her first novel featuring coroner Martin Gänsewein, Morgue Drawer Four, was shortlisted for Germany’s 2010 Friedrich Glauser Prize for best crime novel.

Reviews for Morgue Drawer Four

[jetangen4571 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Germany, contemporary, ghosts, murder, murder-investigation, laugh-out-loud, situational-humor, verbal-humor What a hoot! The story is told by Pascha, especially after his demise and acquaintance with the doctor who performed his autopsy. The two men are as different as chalk and cheese, and not just because one's dead. Pascha is a younger streetwise moocher who regularly gets into messes and the doctor is staid and rather wrapped too tight. The characters certainly are, and the publisher's blurb gives some idea of what's happening but there's no need for spoilers here, just go ahead and enjoy! The translation from the original German is done by Erik J Macki and I expect that he knows just how to translate tricky idioms. MacLeod Andrews is the narrator and his presentation is so in character, just listening makes you laugh and picture the characters clearly!

[toobusyreading · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I suspected after reading the first few paragraphs of this book that I wouldn't like but, but I had hope. I persisted. Silly me.The premise is also silly – the soul of a small time thief who thinks he was murdered can talk to only one person after he found himself dead, his coroner. Nothing like this has ever happened to the coroner before. Silly, but it had potential, potential it did not live up to.The criminal is crude and not very smart and not very likable. The coroner is sweet and naive and likable. But the story is pretty much single threaded, and I didn't like the writing or the translation. The characters didn't have much going for them as far as depth. I was bored. This was a Kindle Unlimited book.

[quibee · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A small time, petty German criminal gets killed after stealing a fancy motor car that happens to have a body in the trunk.
He comes back as a ghost, but the only one who can hear him is the placid, conservative coroner in charge of his case.
It's a clash of social classes and a fun mystery.

[wassilissa · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Im Kühlfach 4 der Kölner Gerichtsmedizin liegt Pascha, ein kleiner Autoknacker. Doch sein Geist kann seltsamerweise Kontakt zu Martin Gänsewein, dem Gerichtsmediziner, aufnehmen.Das Buch lebt von den witzigen Kontrasten zwischen dem kleinkriminellen Pascha und dem intellektuellen Martin, auf jeden Fall vergnüglich zu lesen.

[cathyskye · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Author Jutta Profijt has taken a quirky, offbeat idea, developed it, refined it, and served it up to perfection. The combination of cultured, intelligent, shy Dr. Martin Gänsewein and the boisterous, profane and practically illiterate Pascha Lerchenberg is the best pairing since Oscar Madison and Felix Ungar. There is also a stronger than normal sense of reader participation in the book. What do I mean by that? Working together as a team understandably takes Martin and Pascha quite a bit of time, and while Martin is working through the stages of avoidance, denial and acceptance and Pascha is figuring out what he can and cannot do, the reader can pick up the trail of clues these two characters need to follow.At first Pascha is not a very likeable character. He has a completely selfish view of the world, and his limited skills center around grand theft auto. His desires and his impulses are the center of his universe. What is fun to watch is how he very slowly begins to change as he spends more and more time with intelligent, detail-oriented, true blue Martin. Pascha starts seeing the world from a very different perspective, and he even makes a concerted effort to improve his vocabulary. Of course, once Martin gets over the feeling that he's gone insane, his blinkered world view begins to expand as well, and it's amazing to see the lengths this reserved, almost innocent man will go to in order to bring a killer to justice. I expected this book to be witty and funny-- and it is. I was surprised by how involved I became in the action and by how touching many of the scenes were. Erik J. Macki's work is superb, picking up many nuances that often get lost in other translated books. Morgue Drawer Four is a humorous mystery with unexpected depth, and I really look forward to reading the other "Morgue Drawer" books. My only reservation is that a premise like this may not be strong enough to support a long-running series. Sometimes short and sweet is best.

[divanina-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was a cute story with a clever concept. Unfortunately, it was a lackluster tale that failed to make you care about the characters.

[susancrowe01 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book was very different but I actually enjoyed it. It was my Prime Lend for the month. I am actually going to read the rest of the series.

[berly_4 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Morgue Drawer Four, by Jutta Profit, was a truly amusing murder mystery. One of the sleuths is the spirit of the deceased, Pascha. His partner, by default, is the only other person who can hear him--the medical examiner who performed the autopsy. With great difficulty, Pascha cajoles, threatens and guilts Martin into investigating clues. Very funny!

[voracious_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Martin is a nerdy, pudgy coroner who has a non-eventful life collecting antique city maps and maintaining a healthy vegetarian lifestyle. Pasha was a gambler, car thief and drug user, until he ended up on Martin's autopsy table, the result of knowing too much about a dead body and mixing with the wrong people. Martin is horrified when Pasha's hovering spirit starts screaming at him during the autopsy and even more chagrined to find that he is the only one that can hear Pasha, so of course Pasha won't leave him alone, particularly until he can get Martin to find out who killed hiim. In his effort to get rid of Pasha, Martin reluctantly agrees to track down some of the leads to find out who might have killed him, which leads to some uncomfortable yet funny and well-written confrontations between the geeky and gentle Martin and the thugs of the underworld. I thought this novel, which just won an award in Germany for best crime novel, was funny, well-paced, and clever. Though the "ghost that won't leave you alone" device has been used frequently in other stories, I thought this one was fun because the characters were well chosen and differed so completely in their lifestyles, leading to particularly funny situations. A quick and fun read!

[mrslee_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A young man of questionable character finds himself dead. Only one man in the land of the living can hear him, the coroner performing the autopsy. Two men with a huge culture gap, not to mention state of being, must learn how to tolerate each other. Street-wise Pasha and gentle Martin work together trying to solve the mystery of who killed Pasha. I thought it might be a difficult read because it is translated, but not so. This book had me laughing out loud in public places. Though the story takes place in Cologne, Germany, it could be the underside of any city. I had glimmers of the ending and solution, but did not arrive there too early. A quick and enjoyable mystery; this is contains rough language and street situations.