Contrasts play an important role in Ulrich Nettelstroth's crime debut "Too Late to Brake." The story begins at a rest area along the highway to Berlin. Here, the fast and hectic traffic rushes from city to city, while right next to it, the sparsely populated countryside seems to live in a completely different era. A man is run over by a truck on the highway after being incapacitated. The victim is a doctor from the area, but the clues point to the big city. There is a dark Audi with Berlin license plates that was seen nearby. Additionally, there is the doctor's past; he hails from Berlin and worked in a hospital there. Detective Sabine Kressin is drawn into the murder investigation, uncovering a milieu of corruption and white-collar crime. An important witness is missing from the police's inquiries.