Tag Archives: novels set in Germany

#BookReview ‘Evil in High Places’ by Rory Clements #crime #thriller

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I always eagerly anticipate sinking into the second novel of a new series. While the first one introduces characters, sets the scene and context, the second is about action. Evil in High Places is second in the 1930s German thriller series by Rory Clements featuring maverick police detective Sebastian Wolff. And it’s brilliant. Rory Clements Munich 1936. The Winter Olympics are coming to town and a famous actress inconveniently disappears. Wolff is told to find her and be quick about it because Elena Lang is not just a beautiful actress, she’s also the mistress of Hitler’s right-hand man. When a body is found, Wolff is told to make it go away and keep it absolutely secret until after the Olympics are over. Wolff’s job is complicated by the company that Elena keeps; Bavarian aristocrats, senior SS officers, Unity Mitford and assorted foreign hangers-on who like to party. Their sense of entitlement, the wealth, their arrogance is overwhelming and threatening. Wolff, an outsider who struggles to give a convincing Heil Hitler salute, persists in asking awkward questions of powerful people. Another complication is the second case that lands on Wolff’s desk. A local SS officer has been found shot in a local forest. This also must be kept secret during the Olympics. Wolff, who believes in the law, finds himself keeping secrets and hiding bodies. He keeps his suspicions to himself, they could get him killed.
The sub-plots power along nicely too. Will Wolff and his girlfriend Hexie ever get married? How will Wolff’s son Jurgen react when a letter arrives from Berlin. Jurgen’s mother Ulrike, who left Seb when Jurgen was a baby, is coming to Munich and would like to meet up. And why does Wolff’s sergeant Hans Winter volunteer for a difficult dangerous undercover job in Dachau prison camp? All the action takes place in Munich and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, location of the Olympic events and a film shoot, so the the book is populated with film stars and famous athletes.
This is a dramatic, twisty, exciting thriller with a likeable, decent hero operating amongst wolves. Rory Clements is a favourite author for me; he writes reliably unpredictable, exciting, well-researched thrillers, steeped in wartime Germany.
Next in the series is Invitation from a Dictator.

Read my reviews of other books in this series:-
MUNICH WOLF #1SEBASTIANWOLFF
INVITATION FROM A DICTATOR #3SEBASTIANWOLFF

And here are my reviews of the Tom Wilde WW2 thriller series, also by Rory Clements:-
CORPUS #1TOMWILDE
NUCLEUS #2TOMWILDE
NEMESIS #3TOMWILDE
HITLER’S SECRET #4TOMWILDE
A PRINCE AND A SPY #5TOMWILDE
THE MAN IN THE BUNKER #6TOMWILDE
THE ENGLISH FUHRER #7TOMWILDE
A COLD WIND FROM MOSCOW #8TOMWILDE

If you like this, try:-
‘Waiting for Sunrise’ by William Boyd
‘Blow Your House Down’ by Pat Barker
‘Wolf Winter’ by Cecilia Ekback

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COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Abir Mukherjee

#BookReview ‘Snow White Must Die’ by Nele Neuhaus #crime

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A tight-knit community where everyone looks out for each other, bound together by past tragedy. Into this walks Tobias, released from prison after serving his sentence for murdering two teenage girls. In the village where he grew up, where the two girls died. Snow White Must Die by Nele Neuhaus starts with this potent mixture of past and present, lies and threats. The truth never went away but there will be more deaths before the full story is known. Nele NeuhausThis is the first German thriller I have read, and Nele Neuhaus is a new author for me. This was no more difficult to adjust to than reading a Swedish thriller, yes the names are different but the story pulled me along and I cared about what happened to Tobias, Amelie and Thies. Nothing is what it seems.
Detectives Pia Kirchoff and Oliver von Bodenstein bring their own personal hang-ups to the investigation, as is always the case with modern detectives. For me, it was the line-up of characters in the village which was fascinating. Lie is layered on lie: the doctor, the actress, the businessman, the politician, and twenty-somethings who were all teenagers when the murders happened.
The village closes ranks so Kirchoff and van Bodenstein must figure out a way to break down the barriers.

If you like this, try:-
‘Eeny Meeny’ by MJ Arlidge #1HELENGRACE
‘Cover Her Face’ by PD James #1ADAMDALGLIESH
‘The Killing of Polly Carter’ by Robert Thorogood #2DEATHINPARADISE

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