The Weinviertel inspector Simon Polt in his first case. The first case for Austria's most popular gendarme. The real estate speculator and fraudster Albert Hahn is found dead in his wine cellar. There were plenty of reasons to kill this monster. Now, Gendarmerie Inspector Simon Polt must investigate. He knows almost everyone in the Lower Austrian wine-growing village personally. One of them could, indeed must, have been the culprit. A highlight of Austrian crime fiction. With his novels featuring Simon Polt, Alfred Komarek has made a significant contribution to Austrian crime literature. All five cases of Simon Polt—always as much a crime story as a study of the milieu—have been successfully adapted into films, with Erwin Steinhauer in the lead role. What stands out is the unique investigator character of Simon Polt. From the very beginning, he wins the reader's heart. With wit and warmth, but above all, with a great deal of humanity.