Review: Melanie Raabe's The Trap is a marvellous debut that has everything

House of Anansi's wonderful mystery list – Spiderline – continues with this marvellous debut by German author Melanie Raabe. This one has everything: intriguing characters, a great sense of place that grounds the action, and a devious and enthralling plot. Linda Conrads is a famous and much-loved novelist who hasn't set foot outside her house for more than 10 years. She lives in a comfortable but very fragile cocoon beset by fears no one knows. Years before she found her sister Anna dying in a pool of blood, the murderer fleeing. What did Linda see? Could she recognize her sister's killer? Then one day on television the face appears – the killer turns out to be a well-known journalist. Linda dreams of revenge but she's a hermit, trapped in her own home. So she sets a trap for him using what she does best: the plot of her new novel. But the trap she sets may snap shut on her before she catches a killer. This is a perfect by-the-lake book.