This was a fascinating and chilling crime novel set in East Germany in the late 70s.
Karin Muller is a Major in the Criminal Police in East Germany and is sent o investigate the death of a prominent woman in the snow. What unfurls is a tale of desperation, fear and paranoia where the young girl Irma and her boyfriend Dieter are desperate to escape the Republic and go to the west.
The author has excellently presented the conditions of East Germany with the constant surveillance, threats and control which lead to consistent paranoia and unease.
The characters are well-developed and there is a clear sense of the dilemmas they face. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it although it is awful to think this was potentially the reality for many people living in East Germany at the time.
Karin Muller is a Major in the Criminal Police in East Germany and is sent o investigate the death of a prominent woman in the snow. What unfurls is a tale of desperation, fear and paranoia where the young girl Irma and her boyfriend Dieter are desperate to escape the Republic and go to the west.
The author has excellently presented the conditions of East Germany with the constant surveillance, threats and control which lead to consistent paranoia and unease.
The characters are well-developed and there is a clear sense of the dilemmas they face. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it although it is awful to think this was potentially the reality for many people living in East Germany at the time.