The Dinner – Everyone at the Table is Good Friends. Or Are They?

  • A crime dinner escalates: thrilling, intense, and full of twists
  • Fascinating psychological suspense made in Germany


English sample translation and complete summary available

Old friends. New lies. And a murderous truth.


Jonathan and his fiancée Lotta gather their old friends for a reunion at a hidden restaurant in the countryside. Casting a shadow over the event, an empty seat commemorates Maria, who vanished five years ago. As a tribute to memory, they start a murder-mystery dinner, blurring the line between game and grim reality. Disturbing memories come to the surface and raise questions: Who is lying for their role, who is lying for themselves? As a storm brews outside, the game escalates. Is Maria still alive? Or is there a murderer at the table?


"Better than any true crime podcast: This thriller will keep you up all night." - harpersbazaar.de, Antonia Hartmann

"The profound locked-room thriller offers unexpected twists and turns right to the end" - fr.de, Sven Trautwein

"Great thriller fun in a small space." - emotion, Annalena Lüder

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Emily Rudolf's "The Retreat" sold to: Norway (Cappelen Damm) and Croatia (Fraktura)

  • Publisher: FISCHER Scherz
  • Release: 29.01.2025
  • ISBN: 978-3-651-02515-8
  • 464 Pages
  • Author: Emily Rudolf
The Dinner – Everyone at the Table is Good Friends. Or Are They?
Emily Rudolf The Dinner – Everyone at the Table is Good Friends. Or Are They?
Gaby Gerster 2023
© Gaby Gerster 2023
Emily Rudolf

Emily Rudolf knows her way around sophisticated psychological suspense set in fascinating locations: Her debut “The Retreat” brought her a direct breakthrough as a thriller author. In her new book, “The Dinner”, she explores the abysses lurking behind friendship and how human emotions can escalate to deadly levels. The author, born in 1998, grew up near Leipzig, published her first books alongside her studies and job and then turned her passion into a career. Emily Rudolf currently lives and writes in Nuremberg; in her free time, she likes to play mystery dinners like the protagonists of her current thriller, but with a less murderous outcome.