Mörderhus - Der Usedom-Krimi (2014)

Former prosecutor Karin Lossow is released from prison after serving several years. She had once shot her husband in the heat of the moment with her daughter Julia’s service weapon because he had slept with another woman. To the surprise of her probation officer and her daughter, she does not move, as planned, into a newly built apartment in Rostock, but instead returns to her home on Usedom, to the “Mörderhus.” This is not to the liking of her daughter, who still cannot forgive her mother for what she did. Karin has to put up with disparaging looks and comments from the islanders. She sees Usedom as a second chance at life and soon also gets along well with her environmentally conscious granddaughter Sophie, whom she supports with legal advice during a protest. Karin also finds work at a bison enclosure, where she cares for the animals and checks visitors’ admission. Julia has to investigate the death of Thomas Krenzlin. The young man, who was paralyzed from the waist down, is found drowned in the water. His wheelchair must have rolled off the jetty; its brakes had not been set. But his sister Anke and his Polish caregiver Janek are certain the brakes were on when they left Thomas alone to spend some time together in a nearby hut. A reenactment at the jetty also shows that even strong winds could not have blown the wheelchair into the water. Since Thomas had caused an accident while drunk two years earlier, in which two young women died and he himself survived with a severe disability, the incident could also have been an act of revenge. When Thomas’s gravestone is defaced with a spray can bought in Poland, suspicion falls on Janek. While investigating the Polish caregiver, Janek, Julia receives help in Poland from Marek Wozniak, with whom she is also having an affair. Janek denies the crime and says someone is trying to frame him. He also says he did not leave the spray can in the cemetery. Anke calls Janek and tells him never to contact her again. A witness interview reveals that it was not Janek who bought the can, but Till Braydon, the son of an influential local politician and a political ally of prosecutor Brunner. When photos of Janek and Anke having sex near the jetty are also found on Till’s phone, he becomes even more suspicious. During questioning, Julia manages to get the crucial information from Till and Anke. Till, who was jealous of Janek, had watched the two of them in the hut and had also seen that Thomas’s father, Heiner, pushed him off the jetty and into the water because he could not cope with the whole situation. This enabled Till to blackmail Anke and make her break up with Janek and provide him with sexual favors. Karin has also figured this out through her intuition and drives to see Heiner. On his boat, she talks to him and says she has to tell her daughter. Heiner promptly knocks Karin unconscious. When she comes to, she finds an empty whisky bottle on the ice in front of the boat and sees Heiner’s cap lying at the edge of the ice and water. While tidying up in the Mörderhus, Karin finally finds a bag belonging to her husband, full of money.