The Clockwork Detective

Who do you call when a family breaks down?

Marcel Oreba earns a living as a handyman. He's used to fixing broken appliances and dripping taps. But when a job takes him to the seemingly ordinary home of the Michl family, he quickly realises something isn't right. A strange silence hangs between the couple, a wardrobe in the cellar is best left unopened, and the disappearance of their son, Kája, is only spoken of in hints.
Marcel is no detective or hero. He has a wife, a young son, and his own worries with his divorced parents. Yet, or perhaps because of this, he can't just let things be and decides to find out what happened to Kája. He follows his trail across the city – through a secondary school, a library, an underground factory, and to various local eccentrics.
Many people have a reason to stay silent. But when Marcel discovers a link between Kája's case and a violent murder in the park, he understands that this is about more than just one missing young man. And that whoever is hiding the truth is willing to do anything to ensure Marcel never finds it...
A contemporary Czech detective story about small-town secrets, family guilt, and an ordinary dad who, while searching for someone else's son, begins to fear for his own.