The Pledge

Author: Friedrich Durrenmatt

Classic crime

Published on 30 July 2026 by Pushkin Press (Pushkin Vertigo) in the United Kingdom.

Paperback | 160 pages
129 x 199 x 14 | 146g

'A book everybody should read' Jonathan Coe

'Powerful and compelling' Sunday Times Crime Club

'Jaw-dropping' Crime Review

'As terse and assured as the best of Simenon' Spectator

The brilliant Inspector Matthäi is haunted by the case of a young girl brutally murdered in a Swiss mountain forest. Even after a man is arrested and confesses to the crime, Matthäi is convinced the real killer is still out there. He makes a promise to the girl's mother: he will stop at nothing to bring the murderer to justice.

But Matthäi's pledge becomes an obsession, and soon he finds he is descending into the darkness himself...