I'm a brand new fan of David Young and I've read all three of his Karin Müller books in the space of the past week and I've found them completely compelling.
A Darker State opens with the discovery of a pile of dead rats, from there a young man's body is discovered and Müller and her team are drafted in to investigate. She is newly promoted and torn between her new found happy home life and the career she loves but embraces a new role and this new case.
The story unfolds in 1970s East Berlin and takes Müller and Tilsner out as far as the Polish border. It rapidly becomes clear that this case is tangled up with the machinations of the Stasi and the deep roots of that organisation are gradually exposed as the story progresses.
David Young is so well researched, he knows East Germany inside and out and this understanding of the country makes the setting so evocative. I've always been fascinated by the time the Eastern Bloc spent behind the Iron Curtain and this more unusual time setting (most are set post-war or around the fall of the Berlin Wall in my experience) was thoroughly enjoyable as a glimpse inside the closed state. It's really interesting that Müller isn't a dissident, as lead characters in this type of novel often are, she believes in Socialism, even though it's impact upon her life is becoming increasingly negative as the series develops. Müller is a well developed character, I don't always like her - she can be infuriating at times, but she's believable and well written and I always root for her.
You don't have to have read all of the books in the series to enjoy this one, in fact I think this is the best so far with the multiple layers of East German policing and intelligence laid bare, but I'd definitely recommend them. David Young is an excellent writer and I am looking forward to Müller #4.
A Darker State opens with the discovery of a pile of dead rats, from there a young man's body is discovered and Müller and her team are drafted in to investigate. She is newly promoted and torn between her new found happy home life and the career she loves but embraces a new role and this new case.
The story unfolds in 1970s East Berlin and takes Müller and Tilsner out as far as the Polish border. It rapidly becomes clear that this case is tangled up with the machinations of the Stasi and the deep roots of that organisation are gradually exposed as the story progresses.
David Young is so well researched, he knows East Germany inside and out and this understanding of the country makes the setting so evocative. I've always been fascinated by the time the Eastern Bloc spent behind the Iron Curtain and this more unusual time setting (most are set post-war or around the fall of the Berlin Wall in my experience) was thoroughly enjoyable as a glimpse inside the closed state. It's really interesting that Müller isn't a dissident, as lead characters in this type of novel often are, she believes in Socialism, even though it's impact upon her life is becoming increasingly negative as the series develops. Müller is a well developed character, I don't always like her - she can be infuriating at times, but she's believable and well written and I always root for her.
You don't have to have read all of the books in the series to enjoy this one, in fact I think this is the best so far with the multiple layers of East German policing and intelligence laid bare, but I'd definitely recommend them. David Young is an excellent writer and I am looking forward to Müller #4.