Fine Cracks

  • When justice is not enough.
  • New criminal cases and gray areas from legal expert Elisa Hoven
  • "...a pull you can hardly escape." — DIE ZEIT


English sample translation available

Even in the most dazzling facade, fine cracks will eventually appear.


Eva Herbergen, a committed criminal defense lawyer, withdraws from her work: She wants to enjoy old age with her husband Peter. But the shadows of past deeds reach into her private life. In gripping tableaus, Elisa Hoven illuminates legal and biographical dark zones: Security is an illusion, a verdict always remains only an approximation of the truth.

Fine Cracks leads into the coincidences of crimes. Causes often reach far back into a pre-history and sometimes lie so close that they are all the easier to overlook.


The past is never concluded.

Every person has their own truth.

The truth is brittle.

There is always more than one truth.

Every crime begins with a secret.

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Sample Translations
Rights sold to

Japanese (Tokyo Sogensha); Previous titles sold to:  Spanish (Maeva), Italian (Neri Pozza), Czech (Alpress), Norwegian (Bonnier Norsk), Dutch (Thomas Rap), Japanese (Tokyo Sogensha)

  • Publisher: S. FISCHER
  • Release: 27.05.2026
  • ISBN: 978-3-10-397751-6
  • 288 Pages
  • Author: Elisa Hoven
Buchcover von Fine Cracks: Roman
Elisa Hoven Fine Cracks
Portrait von Elisa Hoven
© Peter Rigaud
Elisa Hoven

Elisa Hoven (1982) is a professor of criminal law at the University of Leipzig. Her research focuses on German and international criminal law, economic criminal law, media criminal law, and sexual criminal law. Since 2020, she has also been a judge at the Saxon Constitutional Court. She has worked in Australia, Cambodia, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States during her various academic and research endeavors.