An RTL series which follows the former German chancellor, or her likeness, as she comes out of retirement to become an amateur detective, has aired on Italian TV.

Angela Merkel detective show broadcast on Italian TV

Holmes, Poirot, Montalbano and Marple can hang up their hats, Europe has a new woman on the case and she’s ready to schaff’ alles.

Miss Merkel and the Murder in the Castle sees Germany’s longest-running chancellor, portrayed by Katharina Thalbach, come out of retirement to sleuth for a two-part Italian TV series.

Living a quiet life in Brandenburg and uninspired by retirement, Miss Merkel leaves her husband and bodyguard behind to solve crimes originally assigned to the incompetent inspector Hannemann.

Based on a book series by thriller writer David Safier, Miss Merkel was produced by a company based in Hamburg and originally aired on German broadcaster RTL. It will now be dubbed in Italian and broadcast on Rai2.

Miss Merkel writer was inspired by Columbo

Speaker to Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera, Safier said that the original idea came to him in 2019 when it became clear that Merkel would not run for office in 2021.

"I had met my agent in the morning, and we talked about Angela Merkel”. After watching Columbo that same day, Saifer said, “[I] immediately understood that I had found the idea for the next book". 

According to Safier, Miss Merkel is just getting started. A fourth in the series will be published in November, the same month the real-life Merkel’s autobiography is due to hit the shelves.

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