Only Herrings Have A Soul

Waiter Rudolf Pleil was 23 years old when he was arrested in 1947 for battering a salesman to death. Pleil was sentenced to twelve years in jail. In prison, he boasted about several other murders and described the crime scenes. The investigators checked his claims and were able to link him to a further eleven murders and one attempted murder - all victims were women. The following trial in autumn 1950 is considered to be the most spectacular trial in post-war Germany. Pleil was sentenced to lifelong imprisonment. Fred Sellin has viewed thousands of pages of investigation and court files, including written accounts by Rudolf Pleil himself. In his fact-based novel, he links the psychogram of a serial killer with the multi-faceted portrait of the German post-war society.