Contents

1

I first met her at the Booker Prize for Fiction . . .

2

How did I become so involved with Doctor Criminale?

3

Vienna smelled of roasting coffee and new gingerbread . . .

4

In his wing collar, Gerstenbacker sat there . . .

5

So where were you when the Eighties ended?

6

Budapest is not one city but two . . .

7

Never take an international literary conference lightly . . .

8

Criminale gave the room the centre it seemed to lack . . .

9

The Villa Barolo has long been associated with writing . . .

10

The Gran Hotel Barolo was pleasant enough . . .

11

Lausanne was a quite different kind of world . . .

12

I do not know whether Bazlo Criminale recognized me . . .

13

In 1991 I found myself in Buenos Aires . . .

14

In an excellent restaurant in the Grand’ Place . . .

15

There are many reasons why I will not forget that evening . . .

16

That should have been the end of the story of Criminale . . .