Bernie Gunther, a former police officer and hesitant SS officer, tries to start over in the aftermath of World War II in the fourth mystery in Philip Kerr's New York Times bestseller series, but rapidly discovers that the past is never far behind you...
1949, Berlin. Germany is a country of corrupt bargains, excessive greed, and fleeing Nazis amid the turmoil of defeat. Berlin has gotten just too hazardous for Bernie Gunther. Bernie has relocated to Munich to rebuild himself as a private investigator after being compelled to serve in the SS in Ukraine's killing fields.
When a lady hires him to investigate her husband's disappearance, business is slow and his funds are running short. He's a war criminal, thus she doesn't want him back. She simply needs proof that he is no longer alive. It's a basic job, but nothing in postwar Germany is straightforward—nothing is as it seems. Accepting the case, Bernie accepts considerably more than he bargained for, and he soon finds himself on the run, surrounded by adversaries on all sides.
All successful marriages are based on some necessary hypocrisies. It’s only the unsuccessful ones where people always tell the truth to each other.
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