Interview with Klaus-Peter Wolf: Sea rescuers to be assassination victims in next book?

BOATS: Have you ever been in distress at sea?

Klaus-Peter Wolf: No, not yet myself.

What is your connection to the sea rescuers?

I was asked by them whether I your ambassador would like to become. And since society seems insecure to me at the moment, it is important to me to talk about people who give us security. For example, I am convinced that people feel safer when they live in a city with a volunteer fire brigade. It's the same when you go out to sea and know about the sea rescuers. For me, they are everyday heroes. They never portray themselves as heroes, they simply do a good job.

You are the author and inventor of the East Frisian crime novels. They are set on the coast. What is your relationship to what lies far from the coast?

I grew up in the Ruhr region. The coast was always a place of longing for people there. For me, it was mainly East Frisia because I had an uncle who was East Frisian but lived in Gelsenkirchen. For him, everything in East Frisia was better than in Gelsenkirchen. He was a seafarer and came to Gelsenkirchen because of his wife. He worked underground there. I'm sure I got my longing for the sea and my love of the sea from him.

As an ambassador, will you now be seen more often at the sea rescue centres?

Well, I already live in the north on the North Sea. There's a station right there, and every time I go for a walk in the marina, I walk past it. But of course I will also be attending a few events this year. I myself have around 150 this year. I'll be talking about the sea rescuers there every time. I believe that this will bring the sea rescuers a little closer to the public. Of course, I hope that this will benefit them and raise a lot of money.

You said that as an ambassador you would talk about the sea rescuers. Will you also write about them in your crime novels in future?

Real people always play a role in my crime novels. I don't invent any cardboard characters. For example, if I feature a bricklayer, then I was on the building site with him beforehand. And so there will also be a place for the sea rescuers. In this way, I can talk about something that is real. For example, I imagine that in the next book a person who is being threatened or is the victim of an assassination attempt could be a sea rescuer.

When will we be able to read about it?

The novel I'm currently working on will be published in January 2026. It will feature a sea rescuer - as a literary character, of course. That will be the 20th East Frisian thriller; it will be called "Ostfriesenerbe".

About Klaus-Peter Wolf

Klaus-Peter Wolf is a German author and screenwriter. His books have been translated into 26 languages and sold over 15 million copies. Wolf is known as the inventor of the East Frisian crime novels.