Maria Elisabeth Straub was born in 1943 in Schleswig-Holstein. She studied art history and German philology and has worked as a freelance author since 1970. She has published three crime novels with her co-author Martina Borger. Maria Elisabeth Straub lives in the far north of Germany. Previous works include: Katzenzungen (Diogenes, 2001); Kleine Schwester (Diogenes, 2001); Im Gehege (Diogenes, 2004) Translation rights available from: Diogenes Verlag AG Sprecherstr. 8 8032 Zurich, Switzerland Tel: +41 1 254 8511 E-mail: bau@diogenes.ch Contact: Susanne Bauknecht Applications for assistance with translation costs - Germany/Switzerland Diogenes Verlag AG is an independent publisher of international literary fiction, non-fiction, children's books and graphic art. The right's list includes Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Patricia Highsmith, Donna Leon, Andrey Kurkov, Magdalen Nabb, Bernhard Schlink, Patrick Süskind and Tomi Ungerer.