Justice Deferred

Someone ruthlessly decided the fate of the beautiful red-haired gymnast Lenka. But is the perpetrator a failed drug addict painter who has been put on trial? Seven different actors in the trial will present their personal view of seventeen-year-old Lenka and the accused painter in one day. Each of them has a few clues in his mind that may shed new light on the case. But this important information will not be heard in court.

Only later does a man nicknamed Sergeant gradually learn the clues, helping his friend Putyak in his search for his kidnapped younger sister, the red-haired Pavlina. Is there a connection between Lenka's disappearance and the disappearance of other beautiful girls with honey-coloured hair? Is there a serial killer living unnoticed among us in Prague? Will justice be postponed indefinitely, or will it be done?

As is usual in Petr Čepek's novels, nothing is as it seems at first sight and the past never sleeps. The author skillfully combines courtroom drama, detective story and testimony of the turn of the millennium. It offers readers a cat-and-mouse game, where only at the very end it becomes clear who will play the role of the beast and who will play the thankless role of the rodent.

A detective novel Justice Deferred you definitely won't want to put down.