The Case of the Forgotten Kriminalromane: Rediscovering Otto Soyka's "Metaphysical Detective Stories"

This essay makes an argument for including the Viennese author Otto Soyka's (1881– 1955) crime and detective stories in scholarly eff orts to reconstruct the evolution of this genre in the German-speaking world. Soyka's first two Kriminalromane, Die Söhne der Macht (1911) and Das Glück der Edith Hilge (1913), serve as examples of Soyka's provocative and innovative engagement with the conventions and expectations of crime and detective fiction. Borrowing from Patricia Merivale and Susan Elizabeth Sweeney, this article considers Soyka's novels to be "metaphysical detective stories." The article also identifies the attainment of partial justice as a recurrent theme in Soyka's novels. Taken together, these devices undermine the sense of certainty, justice, and narrative closure that usually attend the end of an investigation.