Berlin, 1928
The young Bernie Gunther is an inspector in the Homicide Department when the head of Berlin's Criminal Investigation Department assigns him to investigate four murders at the Silesian Station: four prostitutes are murdered within four weeks in the same horrific manner.
Before he even has a chance to study the case files, another prostitute is murdered. Until that moment, no one had shown much interest in the victims - many in Berlin would have liked to rid the city of the depraved.
However, the father of the latest victim is the head of Berlin's most notorious criminal gang and is ready to do whatever it takes to find his daughter's killer.
At the same time, a second series of murders begins - this time the victims are war-disabled beggars on the city's streets. It seems someone is determined to cleanse Berlin of anyone who is not perfect.
The voice of Nazism becomes a roar, threatening to drown out all others. But not the voice of Bernie Gunther...
Kerr's last book, completed shortly before his unexpected death in 2018, is an impressive portrait of Berlin's decadence just before the rise of Hitler and the Nazis to power.