March Violets
Discover the first crime novel in the late Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther series - Berlin Noir - set in Hitler's Germany during the 1930s . . .
Winter, 1936. A man and his wife shot dead in their bed, their home burned. The woman's father, a millionaire industrialist, wants justice - and the priceless diamonds that disappeared along with his daughter's life. He turns to Bernhard Gunther, a private eye and former cop.
As Bernie follows the trail into the very heart of Nazi Germany, he's forced to confront a horrifying conspiracy. A trail that ends in the hell that is Dachau . . .
Stylishly written and powerfully evocative, Kerr's crime classic transports readers to the rotten heart of Nazi Berlin, and introduces a private eye in the great tradition of Hammett and Chandler.
'Wonderfully sharp and satirical' Times
'An impressive debut' Guardian
'Fast-paced, laconic, unpredictable, and witty' Evening Standard
'For Christmas, I would like all of Philip Kerr's Berlin Noir novels' Sam Mendes, Guardian
Philip Kerr was born in Edinburgh and read Law at university. He stayed on to read Law and Philosophy as a postgraduate, most of this German, which was when he first became interested in German twentieth century history.
He worked first as a copywriter at a number of advertising agencies, including Saatchi & Saatchi, but spent most of his time researching an idea he'd had for a novel about a Berlin-based policeman. And following several trips to Germany - and a great deal of walking around mean streets of Berlin - his first novel, March Violets, was published in 1989 and introduced the world to the iconic tough-talking detective Bernie Gunther.
Since then he has written and published ten universally lauded Bernie Gunther novels, and is currently working on his eleventh. He has won both the RBA International Prize for Crime Writing, and the CWA Ellis Peters Historic Crime Award.