After Hitler rose to power, quite a few Germans became eager supporters of his National Socialism. March Violets is the derogatory term given to these newcomers to Nazism.

In the story, the cynical ex-policeman Bernard Gunther works as a private detective, alone and sneering at the moral losses of his countrymen. Wanting for money, he accepts a job from a rich industrialist who wants him to recover a diamond necklace stolen from the safe of his daughter and son-in-law's house after they were murdered. In the process of following leads, Bernard finds conspiracy at every level of the government, in his own client and in villains like Goering and Himmler. During the time of this story, 1939 Olympics are taking place, and Bernard ends up in the stadium watching Jessie Owen win.

The story has numerous twists and turns, taking the protagonist all the way to the concentration camp, Dachau, and back.

This was a very well researched book, and it did an amazing justice to the description of pre-war Berlin.

those who like history and crime fiction.

The way the writer brought back to life the city of Berlin in the 1930's, showing the absolute horror of the Nazi regime and its paranoid anti-semitism.

read other books by this author.

somewhat emotionally drained because of the time of history, which was the most despicable.

Philip Kerr, according to his biography in Book Browse, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland; studied at the University of Birmingham and worked as an advertising copywriter before becoming a full-time writer. He has written for the Sunday Times, Evening Standard and the New Statesman. In addition to at least eleven books for adults including the Bernie Gunther series, he is also the author of the Children of the Lamp series which he writes under the name P.B. Kerr.
A few of his other books are: Field Gray,If the Dead Rise Not, A Quiet Flame, The Pale Criminal, A German Requiem, The One from the Other

it presents the drama of individuals in the horrible background of pre-war Germany, which forces them to deal with the brutality and corruption of their countrymen.
The book is also written very well, in the first person noir fashion.

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Created Jul 15, 2011 at 6:39pm • Submit your own review...