The Maurizius Case

This big, complex work was a favorite of the horror/fantasy writer Fritz Leiber, and he included it amongst other mysterious(and sometimes fictional) works in the personal library of his character Franz Westen in his masterpiece 'Our Lady of Darkness'. Which is how I came to the book.This(non-fantasy) novel is set in between war Germany and deals with the conflict between a father and son. The father, prominent in the judiciary, was involved in a controversial murder case years before. The teenage son becomes interested in the case and runs away from home to investigate. The father, troubled by this, starts his own independent investigation.The writing is marked by fantastically intense and realistic characterisation and lit up by flares of vivid imagery, reminiscent of the expressionist cinema of the time. It draws a detailed picture of crime, punishment and social hypocrisies in 1920's Germany. This edition is the fifth impression of what, to judge by the design, is the original 1920's hardcover. It is undoubtedly the same format that Leiber, and his fictional avatar Westen, owned.The only thing that still puzzles me is what this meant to Leiber and what relation it had to his own work! Any answers to the e-mail address before. Here's to you, anyway, Fritz, wherever in Heaven, Hell or Newhon you are!