Diagnosed a schizophrenic, addicted to morphine and opium, Glauser spent the greater part of his life in psychiatric wards, insane asylums and prison. His Sergeant Studer novels have cusured his place as a cult figure in Europe. Germany's most prestigious crime fiction award is called the Glauser prize. Mike Mitchell has translated some thirty books, including Simplicissimus by GrimmeIsbausen and all the novels of Gustav Mcyrink. He won the 1998 Schlegel-Tieck German translation prize.

"Despairing plot about the reality of madness and life, leavened with strong doses of bittersweet irony.The idiosyncratic investigation and its laconic detective have not aged one iota" Guardian