Bernie Gunther is a private detective in the volatile world of Berlin in 1936. With the backdrop of the Olympic summer games, Bernie is asked by steel magnate, Herman Six (sorry for the spelling errors, I listened to this one), to find out what happened to a diamond necklace stolen from a safe the night his daughter was shot and killed while in bed with her husband - before their home was set aflame. In the mix are the March Violets, newcomers to the Nazi party with something to prove and status to gain. Bernie unravels more than he bargained for as he tries to navigate the changing landscape of power in the Third Reich. Goring, Himmler and Goebbels all make brief appearances to help cement the reader in time.
As far as noir goes, this novel is spot on. A devastatingly beautiful film actress, secret motives, guns for hire, etc etc, this book has it all. I was able to figure out a very important piece of the story before Bernie, but the plot went in such wild directions afterwards that I was pleasantly surprised by later developments. There is a bit of melancholy which the period evokes that can never be done away with. But Bernie's dogged determination and cynical viewpoint help to move the story along.
It's a bit incongruous to have the book read by John Lee, who is British, and the story occur in Berlin. Lee is a great narrator, but at times it was jarring to hear a cockney accent on a German thug. Written by the British Kerr, the book is one stepped removed from the realism or authenticity a German author may have given to the story - as the jokes are more heavily in the British style of humor than German.
4/5 Stars.
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