Hinterlassene Schuhe, which freely translates as "Left-behind Shoes" is a novel by the experimental Swiss psyciatrist and novelist Jürg Schubiger (1936).

The novel starts with the somewhat unsettling episode of a man, who empties out his shoes and then drops them into a ravine. He then drives off in his car, and arrives, without shoes, at a boarding house, where he takes a room, and has dinner with the proprietress and her daughter. Upon his departure, the woman gives him a pair of shoes, which belonged to her deceased husband.

From the opening pages, the reader knows that the main character is a murderer. Hence, his irrational behaviour is somewhat explained.

Next, the man picks up a woman at a filling station. It gradually becomes clear that he has no place to go. He drives his car, picks up women, and finds shelter in boarding houses and the like. There is a tension in the pages of the book. References to the dead man's shoes, contribute to a sense of impending danger.

Unfortunately, the author is unable to maintain this power of suspense. Nothing happens, and the book merely consists of a chain of such chance encounters, and the initial tension slips away.

Very disappointing after such an initially interesting beginning. ( )