Münchenstein, 1938: In the studio of Tonfilm Frobenius, actor Robert Alberti lies dead on the floor. The prop knife with which his colleague Hilde Ehinger stabbed him has been switched. Students Max and Simon, who have disguised themselves as extras to sneak onto the set, flee the studio grounds in a panic. It was Simon who retrieved the knife from the dressing room before the scene, where the actress had forgotten it. As an émigré who fled Germany from the Nazis, he must not come under police scrutiny. Nevertheless, he is identified and put on the wanted list. To protect his friend, Max is determined to find the real culprit. The fact that his godfather is leading the investigation as a criminal commissioner doesn't make things any easier, as he knows exactly where to look.

With his wittily narrated debut novel, renowned non-fiction author Thomas Blubacher presents a thrilling, fast-paced, and twist-filled crime story that also serves as a vivid portrait of Basel's cultural life in the late 1930s.