Set in Eastern Germany this book is the latest in a series of Karin Muller books. An East German detective with the Secret Police, she's juggling new motherhood of twins with a distant partner and an all consuming job, having been massively promoted to Major.
When a couple of bodies of young men turn up and appear to have been murdered in the same way it leads to a murky investigation involving a secretive club. At every turn of the investigation she is being hampered by the Stasi, who are they trying to protect?
When the son of one of her staff members goes missing it looks like he could be the next victim and so a race against time begins.
This book is the first I've read in the series and I think it would have been an advantage to have read the preceding novels as there were quite a few references to Muller's past. It appears she has quite a dark history and understanding that may have helped me understand her character more in this book.
Generally speaking it just felt that Eastern Germany was crawling with a lot of really corrupt and nasty individuals - especially when you learn the scale of the story behind the deaths.
That said, the book moves along at a decent pace and you get a good idea of the political climate of the time (as well as the weather, when they drive along a frozen river!). One thing's for sure, you can't trust anyone!
When a couple of bodies of young men turn up and appear to have been murdered in the same way it leads to a murky investigation involving a secretive club. At every turn of the investigation she is being hampered by the Stasi, who are they trying to protect?
When the son of one of her staff members goes missing it looks like he could be the next victim and so a race against time begins.
This book is the first I've read in the series and I think it would have been an advantage to have read the preceding novels as there were quite a few references to Muller's past. It appears she has quite a dark history and understanding that may have helped me understand her character more in this book.
Generally speaking it just felt that Eastern Germany was crawling with a lot of really corrupt and nasty individuals - especially when you learn the scale of the story behind the deaths.
That said, the book moves along at a decent pace and you get a good idea of the political climate of the time (as well as the weather, when they drive along a frozen river!). One thing's for sure, you can't trust anyone!