Our guest on 19.10.2008

Thea Dorn (her real name is Christiane Scherer) is a writer and TV presenter. She started to take singing lessons while she was at school, but she eventually gave up the idea of a career in opera because her voice was the wrong register for the dramatic soprano roles that she aspired to. After leaving school, she studied philosophy in Frankfurt, Vienna and Berlin. In 1995 she concluded her studies with an MA thesis about the theme of self-delusion. Her pseudonym alludes to the philosopher Theodor W. Adorno.

Thea Dorn graduated in philosophy before teaching ethics at the Free University of Berlin. It was at this point that she had her first idea for a crime novel. Her 1994 debut "Berliner Aufklärung" won the renowned Marlowe Award, while "Die Hirnkönigin" - or "The Brain Queen" - later secured her Germany's most prestigious accolade for crime literature in 2000.

In September 2006 Dorn made a brief departure into the non-fiction genre with a book comprising two essays and interviews with eleven women. The author sees it as a personal contribution towards a new debate on gender and feminism, free of ideology and dogma.

Since 2003 she has also been a regular presenter of various literary TV talk-shows.

Thea Dorn's latest publication is 2008's "Mädchenmörder: Ein Liebesroman" ("Girl Murder. A Love Story"), which centers on the unconventional relationship between a cold-blooded killer and a would-be victim.