Bernie Gunther's Return
Tomorrow brings the publication of British novelist Philip Kerr's fifth mystery featuring Nazi-era Berlin detective Bernie Gunther. Fans of Kerr's hard-bitten, cynical detective hero in particular and of historical mysteries with a noir twist in general will welcome Gunther back.
A Quiet Flame: A Bernie Gunther Novel, by Philip Kerr. Putnam/Marian Wood, $26.95 (389p) ISBN 978-0-399-15530-7
Kerr's latest finds Gunther, who served as an SS officer during the war despite his distain for the Nazis, seeking refuge in Argentina following World War II. Along with thousands of former Nazis, he's given sanctuary by the dictator Juan Peron.
The former Berlin detective is soon recruited by the Argentine secret police to help with a horrific case. A young girl has been murdered and her womb and reproductive organs removed. The Argentineans turn to Gunther because he investigated a similar case in Germany in 1932. A second young girl—the fourteen-year-old daughter of a German-Argentine banker—also is missing, and Gunther is put on her trail.
Because of the similarities between the Berlin and Buenos Aires cases, Gunther—and the Argentines—suspect a connection, and the narrative moves back and forth between 1932 Berlin and 1950 Buenos Aires.
There's much more going on here than the Argentineans tell Gunther, and our intrepid hero is soon stumbling onto things that others would prefer remain hidden.
Along the way, Gunther encounters more than a few historical figures: including Adolf Eichmann, Josef Mengele, and Juan and Evita Peron who all figure prominently in the mystery.
In Gunther, Kerr has created an ambiguous hero and placed him squarely in morally-compromising settings. The result—from the very first Bernie Gunther novel, March Violets, in 1989—has been innovative and provocative historical mysteries of the first order. A Quiet Flame continues that tradition.
The World According to Bernie
"All newspapers are fundamentally fascist."
"All men come to resemble their fathers. That isn't a tragedy. But you need a hell of a sense of humor to handle it."
"In this job you meet the lazy, the stupid, the cruel, and the indifferent. Unfortunately, that's what's called an electorate."
"I used to be a cop. We do all of the things criminals do, but for much less money."
"All electorates are bought in one way or another."
"You can grow tired of seeing the same face in the mirror every day. That's why people get married."
"It [slapping a woman's ass] wasn't exactly a hobby. But I was good at it. A man ought to be good at something."
"I like a little vulnerability in my women. Especially at breakfast time."
"Everything's dangerous when you read the small print."
Tomorrow brings the publication of British novelist Philip Kerr's fifth mystery featuring Nazi-era Berlin detective Bernie Gunther. Fans of Kerr's hard-bitten, cynical detective hero in particular and of historical mysteries with a noir twist in general will welcome Gunther back.
A Quiet Flame: A Bernie Gunther Novel, by Philip Kerr. Putnam/Marian Wood, $26.95 (389p) ISBN 978-0-399-15530-7
Kerr's latest finds Gunther, who served as an SS officer during the war despite his distain for the Nazis, seeking refuge in Argentina following World War II. Along with thousands of former Nazis, he's given sanctuary by the dictator Juan Peron.
The former Berlin detective is soon recruited by the Argentine secret police to help with a horrific case. A young girl has been murdered and her womb and reproductive organs removed. The Argentineans turn to Gunther because he investigated a similar case in Germany in 1932. A second young girl—the fourteen-year-old daughter of a German-Argentine banker—also is missing, and Gunther is put on her trail.
Because of the similarities between the Berlin and Buenos Aires cases, Gunther—and the Argentines—suspect a connection, and the narrative moves back and forth between 1932 Berlin and 1950 Buenos Aires.
There's much more going on here than the Argentineans tell Gunther, and our intrepid hero is soon stumbling onto things that others would prefer remain hidden.
Along the way, Gunther encounters more than a few historical figures: including Adolf Eichmann, Josef Mengele, and Juan and Evita Peron who all figure prominently in the mystery.
In Gunther, Kerr has created an ambiguous hero and placed him squarely in morally-compromising settings. The result—from the very first Bernie Gunther novel, March Violets, in 1989—has been innovative and provocative historical mysteries of the first order. A Quiet Flame continues that tradition.
The World According to Bernie
"All newspapers are fundamentally fascist."
"All men come to resemble their fathers. That isn't a tragedy. But you need a hell of a sense of humor to handle it."
"In this job you meet the lazy, the stupid, the cruel, and the indifferent. Unfortunately, that's what's called an electorate."
"I used to be a cop. We do all of the things criminals do, but for much less money."
"All electorates are bought in one way or another."
"You can grow tired of seeing the same face in the mirror every day. That's why people get married."
"It [slapping a woman's ass] wasn't exactly a hobby. But I was good at it. A man ought to be good at something."
"I like a little vulnerability in my women. Especially at breakfast time."
"Everything's dangerous when you read the small print."
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