WaPo Bodensee

Canoe polo is a sport for fit, daring athletes like Paul Schott. When he competes in a tournament on Lake Constance, his colleague Julia and Nele, along with Nele's children Johanna and Niklas and Niklas's friend Josh, cheer him on. But their excitement turns to horror when an opposing player is found floating face down, dead, in his kayak.

The young woman, who was found floating lifeless in Lake Constance and pulled from the water by a fisherman, was apparently the victim of a romantic tragedy. Nadja Koch was strangled by her secret lover, Dennis Böhm, following a heated argument.

The Mafia on idyllic Lake Constance? Together with her Swiss colleague, Captain Aubry, Nele is working around the clock to investigate organized crime after two water police officers were murdered. An initial lead points to Pucci, an Italian shoe dealer who is believed to be a member of the Calabrian Mafia.

Lake Constance is considered Europe's largest ship graveyard. As a result, it attracts treasure hunters from all over the world. And that's exactly the kind of treasure hunter the WaPo spots on its patrol. Diver Arno Gierke admits that he misses both his partner and his boat.

The body of a young, athletic man is floating lifelessly in the lake. When Nele and Paul pull the surfer—who is already severely hypothermic—from the water, it's too late to save him. Daniel Dellbrück was the victim of deliberate blows—with a paddle?

What starts out as a routine procedure suddenly turns into a murder case. The animal spotted floating in Lake Constance turns out to be a corpse dressed in a fur costume and wearing a carved wooden mask. Achim Tilger, the deceased, had just suffered an unprecedented business collapse.

Within the walls of the Oberzell Monastery on the island of Reichenau, stressed-out city dwellers often seek relaxation and contemplation. Bestselling author Armin König had also checked in here. But why?

The shock couldn't have been greater for Katrin Jessmann and her husband, Jost. Nele has to break the news to them of the tragic death of their son, Lasse. The surfer drowned—and was apparently struck by a boat.

Julia and the new guy on the team, Jakob Frings, don't hit it off right away; she pointedly gives him the cold shoulder as soon as he arrives at the office. Jakob is the complete opposite of his predecessor, Pirmin, whom Julia still misses.

Bank advisor Benjamin Murjahn's rowboat washed ashore that morning after colliding with another boat. His wife, Tina, freezes when Nele and Paul tell her that her husband is missing.

Julia and Jakob's morning stand-up paddleboarding session in Liebesbucht comes to an abrupt end when Julia discovers a lifeless body on the shore. Instead of doing yoga with Jakob, they now have to get down to some serious detective work.

Julia and Paul's morning search of Yan Brenner's boat comes up empty. The mafia drug courier, who is known to the police, had already thrown the suitcase containing several kilograms of cocaine overboard.

Fate seemed to have been kind to Tim Feringer. The golden boy was Lake Constance's hope for the Olympic sailing competition. Now his body has been recovered. He was killed—like a beginner—by his boat's boom.

The abrupt end to a fun boat trip with friends: When a fellow passenger falls over the railing and sinks into Lake Constance right before Mechthild's eyes, it's a case for her daughter Nele and the WaPo team.

Anna and her boyfriend Florian celebrate passing their high school graduation exams with a trip in a rubber dinghy. A speeding motorboat brings their happiness to an abrupt end. Anna manages to save herself, but Florian dies as a result of the collision.

When a yacht ties up to his sailboat, it's nothing out of the ordinary for Nils. But a blow from the boom sweeps Nils off the deck and into Lake Constance. Paul Schott first spots the sailboat adrift and then the young man floating dead next to the boat.