This is the first novel by freelance journalist Paul Grossman and is a taut thriller set in the gritty yet enticing Berlin of 1932 just as Hilter is coming into power. The main character, Detective Willi Kraus, is an honored war veteran and is known throughout Berlin for capturing a notorious serial killer. He is also a Jew. Now he is investigating the suspicious, possibly drowning, death of a young woman with terribly deformed legs and the case of a missing Bulgarian princess who walked away from her hotel as if in a trance. His investigation leads him to believe that the cases are tied together and point to involvement by the Nazis. Kraus soon finds himself being the pursued and not the pursuer.

This book is full of period atmosphere and dramatic characters both real and imagined. Historical figures making appearances include Marlene Dietrich, Josef Mengele, Alfred Einstein, Robert Oppenheimer and of course Adolph Hitler. I listened to the audio version which was read by Christian Contreras and he did a wonderful job performing many different voices with German accents.

Allison