March Violets

The first in the iconic Berlin Noir series. Bernhard Gunther is a private eye, specializing in missing persons. And in Hitler’s Berlin, he’s never short of work …Winter 1936. A man and his wife have been shot dead in their bed. The woman’s father, a millionaire industrialist, wants justice – and the priceless diamonds that disappeared along with her life. As Bernie follows the trail into the cesspit that is Nazi Germany, he’s forced to confront a horrifying conspiracy. One that takes him to the very heart of the administration, and, inescapably, to Dachau …Stylishly written and powerfully evocative, March Violets takes readers to the rotten heart of Nazi Berlin, and introduces a private eye in the great tradition of Hammett and Chandler.

Author Biography

Philip Kerr was born in Edinburgh and read Law at university. He stayed on to read Law and Philosophy as a postgraduate, most of this German, which was when he first became interested in German twentieth century history.

He worked first as a copywriter at a number of advertising agencies, including Saatchi & Saatchi, but spent most of his time researching an idea he’d had for a novel about a Berlin-based policeman. And following several trips to Germany – and a great deal of walking around mean streets of Berlin – his first novel, March Violets, was published in 1989 and introduced the world to the iconic tough-talking detective Bernie Gunther.

Since then he has written and published ten universally lauded Bernie Gunther novels, and is currently working on his eleventh. He has won both the RBA International Prize for Crime Writing, and the CWA Ellis Peters Historic Crime Award.