I read this while waiting for the last Kurt Wallander mystery to arrive in the post, so it may not have been fair to compare the two northern European detectives, the middle-aged, depressed Swedish Wallander and the wise-cracking action hero Bernie Gunther of the Berlin police. The difference being that Gunther was trying to find justice in Nazi Germany, not small town contemporary Sweden. While Wallander is all too believable, Gunther is more obviously a piece of fiction, at least I thought so, with the premise of a locked room murder mystery and a mansion full of Nazis in which our hero must try to extract some form of justice (it’s not only the readers who see the irony in trying to find justice for the killing of a murderous Nazi scumbag). Still, it was a good read and the eighth in the series. I’ve only read the first, March Violets, so I have some catching up to do.

No. 10 of 12 books I intend to read and review in 2025.

I’m Patrick Sherriff, an Englishman who survived 13 years working for newspapers in the US, UK and Japan. Between teaching English lessons at my conversation school in Abiko, Japan, I write and illustrate textbooks for non-native speakers of English, release Hana Walker mystery novels, short stories, paint, and write essays and Our Man in Abiko, a monthly  newsletter   highlighting good writing in English, often about about Japan, art, crime fiction and teaching.