A Trace of Smoke

Hannah Vogel #1

by Rebecca Cantrell

Even though hardened crime reporter Hannah Vogel knows all too well how tough it is to survive in 1931 Berlin, she is devastated when she sees a photograph of her brother's body posted in the Hall of the Unnamed Dead. Ernst, a cross-dressing lounge singer at a seedy nightclub, had many secrets, a never-ending list of lovers, and plenty of opportunities to get into trouble.

Hannah delves into the city's dark underbelly to flush out his murderer, but the late night arrival of a five-year-old orphan on her doorstep complicates matters. The endearing Anton claims that Hannah is his mother. and that her dead brother Ernst is his father.

As her investigations into Ernst's murder and Anton's parentage uncover political intrigue and sex scandals in the top ranks of the rising Nazi party, Hannah fears not only for her own life, but for that of a small boy who has come to call her 'mother.'

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Germany, Historical, Historical Mystery, Mystery Thriller

292 pages, Hardcover

First published May 12, 2009

About the author

A few years ago Rebecca Cantrell quit her job, sold her house, and moved to Hawaii to write a novel because, at seven, she decided that she would be a writer. Now she writes the award-winning Hannah Vogel mystery series set in Berlin in the 1930s. “A Trace of Smoke,” "A Night of Long Knives," "A Game of Lies," and "A City of Broken Glass." She also co-writes the Order of Sanguines series with James Rollins, starting with the upcoming book 1: "The Blood Gospel." And she writes the iMonster series as Bekka Black, including "iDrakula" and "iFrankenstein."

A faded pink triangle pasted on the wall of Dachau Concentration Camp and time in Berlin, Germany in the 1980s inspired “A Trace of Smoke.” Fluent in German, she received her high school diploma from the John F. Kennedy Schule in Berlin and studied at the Freie Universität in Berlin and the Georg August Universität in Göttingen.

When she visited Berlin in the summer of 2006, she was astounded to discover that many locations in her novel have been rebuilt and reopened in the last few years, including the gay bar El Dorado and the Mosse House publishing house.

Her short story “Coffee” will appear in the “Missing” anthology in February 2009.

Her screenplay “The Humanitarian” was a finalist at Shriekfest 2008: The Los Angeles Horror/Sci-fi Film Festival. Her screenplay “A Taste For Blood” was a finalist at the Shriekfest 2007: The Los Angeles Horror/Sci-fi Film Festival.

As of this writing, she lives in Berlin with her Ironman husband and son.

Reviews

[Berengaria · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars
Read in Swedish translation for the Foreign Language Reading Challenge 2024.

short review for busy readers: mystery set in the gay & growing Nazi subcultures in Berlin 1931. Simplistic writing, problematic main character, somewhat confused plot. Very modern American in outlook and focus. Fast paced. Some historical anachronisms. Slightly below bog standard for mysteries.

in detail:
This novel was written by an American and it shows.

Not only do the characters use modern Americanisms in their speech – which jarringly doesn’t fit the historical German setting – the series character of Hannah Vogel is far more something out of an American romance novel than a German of the early 1930s.

(For example, Vogel says, “I sounded like an actress in a B-movie” Friends. Let’s think. The silent film era is barely over and B-movies…the 2nd film to be shown in a double feature!... certainly did not have the same meaning then as it does in America today.)

Another tendency American writers seem to have when writing about this era is over-focusing on the Nazis, bestowing on their fictional characters the amazing gift of prophecy to foresee exactly how bad those boys in brown were going to become.

Really? At a time of great instability, when there were organised mafia gangs, intense poverty-motivated crime, the Communists were constantly getting into violent street brawls and the arch-conservative, militaristic city police were known to shoot into crowds and “anybody who looked foreign” first? But the only people you're worried about in the least are packs of organised thugs with political ambitions?

And this from a serious “crime reporter”?

This focus leads to the novel becoming melodramatic in “save the cat” fashion to engender standard emotional responses. Fleeing Jews? An adorable little abandoned orphan? A bitchy older sib who refuses our heroine in her hour of need? A sweet gay young man tormented by his militaristic father? Tough independent woman who deep inside just aches to be a wife and mommy?

Wiping the tears away yet?

For being a journalist, Vogel’s investigative skills are questionable and rather confused. She had numerous ops to find information/clues and get herself out of harm’s way, and yet doesn’t take them.

In real life, this would be understandable. Humans aren’t superheroes. But in novels, our detectives should at least know how to take advantage of the resources available to to them. Vogel doesn't. She relies on happenstance and ...*cue music for "Some Day My Prince Will Come"*

The only thing I'd say was rather done well was the portrayal of how close the homosexual underground community was to extremist politics and crime at that point in time.

The resolution to the murder of Ernst Vogel comes at about an average 5-6 on the Ease of Solving Scale®. Not recommended.

[Judith Starkston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Berlin, 1931, the year Germany was lost to the Nazis. Hannah Vogel, a crime reporter, wanders into the Hall of the Unnamed Dead to examine the police reports from which she gathers her stories each week. Instead she sees her brother’s photograph on the wall, his long hair and beautiful features wet from being dragged out of the Spree River, an anonymous floater. But Hannah’s identity papers, and with them her ability to talk to the police, are on their way to America in the hands of her Jewish friend Sarah. Until Sarah mails back her papers, she is trapped with only her journalist skills to figure out who killed her brother. But that is the least of the traps Hannah will step into.

Cantrell builds a surprising story. You haven’t heard this one, even if you’ve read a great deal about the Holocaust and the lead up to World War II. It’s dark, but not overwhelmingly grim, as WWII tales can be. The plot takes unexpected turns and the characters are convincingly drawn, both from the historical and psychological point of view. Cantrell’s persuasive and complex characters will pull your sympathies in directions you feel a bit uncomfortable about, to characters you otherwise despise, as well as to brave people whom you hold your breath for, turn those pages so quickly for. Humanity—never an easy project to depict with subtle veracity. Cantrell excels at it.

One theme is developed with particular sensitivity: the parent-child relationship. A five-year-old boy appears late one night on Hannah’s doorstep. He insists she is his mother, which, of course, Hannah can be quite sure she’s not. But she takes care of him and while searching for his real parents, she grows to love him. She had already served as mother to her brother Ernst, whose terrible end and troubled life she partially blames herself for. How can she be a parent to this little boy entrusted to her when she had failed her brother? But, as Cantrell’s subtle portrayal shows us, she is an excellent mother both to her lost brother and Anton, the mysterious child. Hannah falls in love with a wealthy, handsome banker, Boris, who has come with his daughter to witness the rape trial Hannah’s covering—and we meet another conflicted, devoted parent. Both Hannah and Boris will face excruciating choices for their children. Their common understanding of the value of what they are doing is one of the foundations of their friendship. Then there are some less benign parents. Cantrell avoids the saccharine and brings us a complicated, humane exploration of mothers, fathers, and their children. It’s only one of many resonances in this engaging book.

I’ve just discovered these treasures of historical mystery. A Trace of Smoke is the first, then A Night of Long Knives, and her most recent, A Game of Lies.

[Jaksen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meandering, clumsy, confusing, convoluted, contrived. I can't believe I finished.

The story of Hannah, a young German girl, in the months leading up to WW2. Her brother's dead. He had several important lovers. Hannah tries to track down what happened, why and when, all the while skirting the authorities who have the power to stop and question anyone, including German (Aryan) citizens. She can't go to the police because two of her friends have borrowed her identification papers to travel to the US. Okay. Sounds okay, and I thought I might enjoy this read, believing it might be similar to Zoo Station, by David Downing, (which was exemplary, by the way.)

This book is nothing like it. There are scenes I can't even make sense of who-is-who or what the main characters are doing. Motivation? Thin or nonexistent. Then there's this:

A little boy of five who talks like he's ten, it makes no sense. (I have five and ten-year old grandsons.)

An official at the police station who doesn't 'notice' a picture of his friend (the dead brother) hanging on a bulletin board with photos of the 'Unknown Dead.' Nope, he passes it a dozen times a day and must look right past it. Crazy.

Poor Hannah is hungry most of the time - she's lost her job - yet she has an older, well-to-do sister AND a friend who's also well-situated and is a great cook. Does Hannah get any food to take home? Oh, maybe a biscuit or two.

Hannah also conveniently finds a 'dagger' at the scene of her brother's murder. How clumsy these German/Nazi murderers are! Oh, and a toy soldier which belonged to the (dead) brother, and which he always carried around. Some of this is written like a terrible Nancy Drew story. Let's go looking for clues! Oh, look, a clue!

In other words, this just didn't do it for me.

Two stars and that's generous

[Rob Kitchin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat surprisingly I struggled through A Trace of Smoke. I’ve been thinking about why as it has many of the ingredients that I normally like - good historical context and sense of place, an interesting plot, and a good mix of distinctive characters. After a bit of reflection, I think there are four reasons. First, I found the writing a little flat and pedestrian. Second, the dialogue really didn’t work for me – it’s too formal and stilted. There are very little, if any, colloquialisms, slang, hesitations or stumblings, swearing or personal inflections, and the style of the dialogues doesn’t vary across characters or situations. Third, the book seemed to try and blend romance/cosy with noir, two sub-genres that I think are always destined to make awkward bedfellows. Fourth, the story is told in a first person voice I had difficulty connecting to. That all said, the story is interesting and I think A Trace of Smoke will appeal to many readers and it’s certainly been well reviewed by others. I enjoyed the story, I just struggled with how it was told, and despite all my reservations I would be curious to know what happens to Hannah and Anton next.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to get a feel for pre World War II Germany, this is your book. A Trace of Smoke takes place in 1931 Berlin, the Nazi's are just starting to make their presence known and the people of Berlin are still recovering from the shortages and lose of the first war. Great writing and a wonderful mystery taking you from the burlesque houses of Berlin, to the lakes and posh clubs of the rich, from the anti-Semitism of Nazi rule to the compassion that still exited in those not afraid to stand up.

Hannah Vogal is a crime reporter. As such, she routinely checks out the photographs of the bodies in the hall of the Unnamed Dead. When she sees the picture of her brother a cross dressing lounge singer, she finds her feet frozen in place. Unable to tell the local police, she must investigate his death on her own. Then a 5 year old boy, named Anton, shows up at her door claiming her brother as his father and calling her mother.

What to do? Treading lightly through the back allies of Berlin and the dance hall her brother worked, which is frequented by some high ranking Nazi's, who would rather it not get out they are patrons, Hannah must find Anton’s true parents, while keeping them both safe and find the murderer of her brother, all while trying to hang onto her job and nurture a relationship with a new man in her life.

[J.D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1931 Berlin, crime reporter Hannah Vogel discovers her brother's photograph in the police station's Hall of the Unnamed Dead. Her brother, a homosexual, cross-dressing lounge singer, had a number of shady connections and numerous liasons with powerful and dangerous men, and when Hannah sets off to find his killer, she runs afoul of one of the scariest real-life figures of the days before Hitler's rise to power.
This is a great historical mystery. I especially liked the contrasts between the supposedly public morality of late Weimar Germany and the decadence of the underworld in which its movers and shakers played, often openly. The plot moves along well, with unexpected twists and turns and a nail-biting ending. Hannah herself is an engaging character, tough when she has to be, yet soft-hearted. The bad guys are truly three-dimensional and well-drawn, and even more frightening because at least one of them actually existed (try to imagine a guy that actually worried Hitler).
A fine debut. Can't wait to read the next one.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good read and a gripping mystery/suspense tale, this is also a peek at life in Berlin as the Nazi's begin their rise. It made me wonder about the cult of personality and not just Hitler, but others in his circle o' thugs. At some point, Hannah, the main character and narrator, wonders what would happen without those who surround Hitler--Rohm, Goebbels, etc. Would he just be a short, shrieking man with a funny mustache?

[Buchdoktor · Rating 1 out of 5]

Im Berlin der frühen 30er arbeitet Hannah Vogel als Gerichtszeichnerin für eine Zeitung und veröffentlicht unter einem männlichen Pseudonym Gerichtsreportagen. Ein Tatortfoto aus einer Galerie unbekannter Toter konfrontiert sie mit dem Tod ihres Bruders Ernst, der in der Berliner Transvestiten-Szene verkehrte. Homosexualität war in jener Zeit strafbar. Hannah gefährdet durch ihre privaten Ermittlungen sich und ihre Stelle bei der Zeitung. Sie begibt sich u. a. deshalb in höchste Gefahr, weil sie Beziehungen ihres Bruders zu Ernst Röhm aufdeckt, der daran kaum Interesse haben kann. Zudem hat Hanna zur Zeit keine gültigen Papiere, weil sie ihren Pass für die Flucht einer anderen Person aus Deutschland zur Verfügung gestellt hat.

Ein Krimi, der zur Zeit des Nationalsozialismus in der Berliner Schwulen-Szene spielt, klingt zunächst sehr interessant. Rebecca Cantrell, die laut ihrer Autorenbiografie fließend Deutsch spricht und 1980 eine Zeit in Berlin verbracht hat, macht es sich mit der Recherche für ihren historischen Krimi leider zu leicht. Meine Lust, der Aufklärung des Todesfalls weiter zu folgen, nahm deshalb von Seite zu Seite stärker ab. In der Beschreibung der Stadt und der Schauplätze bleibt sie zumeist zu allgemein, Ihre Figuren bewegen sich „zum Gericht“, „zur Polizeiwache“, „zum Fluss“, „zum See“. In einer Großstadt, in der es mehrere Rathäuser, Gerichte und außer den Polizeiwachen in den Stadtteilen eine für Kapitalverbrechen zuständige Kriminalpolizei gibt, hätte ich das gern exakter beschrieben. Geärgert habe ich mich über zahlreiche Schreibfehler in Straßennamen, Markennamen und Sehenswürdigkeiten. Wie „Pergamonmuseum“ geschrieben wird oder „Berliner Weiße“, hätte die Autorin bequem vom häuslichen Sofa aus recherchieren können. Die Darstellung der nationalsozialistischen Szenerie wirkt ähnlich schwammig und lustlos. Soll ich mir unter einer „Nazi-Uniform“ eine HJ-, SA-, SS- oder Wehrmachtsuniform vorstellen? Ein Sozialist ist nicht mit einem Sozialdemokraten gleichzusetzen. Warum fühlt Hannah sich nicht als Deutsche? Meint sie mit „die Deutschen“ die Anhänger der Nationalsozialisten? Rebecca Cantrell hat erhebliche Probleme damit, den Perspektivwechsel in eine andere Zeit zu vollziehen und ihre Leser die Härte des Alltags während einer Wirtschaftskrise spüren zu lassen. Während der Wirtschaftskrise, als das Geld jeden Tag an Wert verlor, mussten normale Bürger jeden Pfennig umdrehen. Ihre Hauptfigur handelt zu oft wie eine Person aus den komfortablen Verhältnissen der Gegenwart. Jemand mit gesundem Menschenverstand wäre damals nicht auf die Idee gekommen, sein letztes Geld für drei (!) neue Hosen für ein Kind auszugeben, das ihm nur für kurze Zeit anvertraut wurde, um den restlichen Monat dann nichts mehr zu Essen kaufen zu können. Auch würde niemand an einem normalen Alltag ein sauberes Kind mal eben baden, weil ihn die Lust dazu überkommt; denn das Feuermachen und Wassererhitzen war eine mühselige, schmutzige Arbeit. Ein weiteres Indiz für den nicht gelungenen Perspektivwechsel in die Gedanken einer Deutschen: eine Frau in Hannahs wirtschaftlichen Verhältnissen wäre nicht auf die Idee gekommen, Geld für die "boarding school" eines Kindes zu brauchen, sondern hätte schlicht darauf vertraut, dass ein fleißiger Schüler einer (öffentlichen) höheren Schule vom Schulgeld befreit würde (das damals für weiterführende Schulen zu zahlen war). Auf die unrealistische Darstellung will ich nicht weiter eingehen, wie ein sechsjähriges Kind einer Fremden anvertraut wird und diese fremde Person übergangslos sofort Mutter nennt und unter Verdrängung der Erinnerung an seine leibliche Mutter auch als Mutter annimmt.

Die New York Times-Kritiker, die den Roman lobend hervorgehoben haben, müssen recht anspruchslose amerikanische Leser ohne historische Kenntnisse vor Augen gehabt haben. Als Leserin, deren Familie in den 30ern in Berlin gelebt hat, wirkt der Roman auf mich in weiten Teilen lustlos recherchiert und wenig authentisch.

[Suzanne Adair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Few novels that I pick up hold my attention beyond the first several chapters. What a pleasure to read A Trace of Smoke by Rebecca Cantrell. Ms. Cantrell sets her historical suspense/mystery in Berlin on the eve of Germany's descent into control by the Nazis. Journalist Hannah Vogel discovers that her brother, Ernst, has been murdered. Circumstances prevent her seeking the help of law enforcement officials. She becomes the sleuth to uncover the identity of her brother's killer, endangering her own life.

Cantrell's craft at creating atmosphere is amazing. I could smell the sauerkraut and fear. But what I found particularly memorable about this book was its three-dimensional treatment of Nazis and gays -- and gay Nazis :-). How easily Nazis have been depicted as faceless monsters in fiction and film. Far more difficult to show the human being beneath the brown shirt. Cantrell's Nazis won't sit easily with you. They'll challenge you to admit that anyone can get caught up in the glitter of an idea that promises a better life, then sucked into hell when the idea disintegrates. That's humanity.

I figured out early who offed Ernst. That didn't bother me. The main payoff was watching Hannah stick to her principles and navigate around the land mines of everyone's treachery and trashed dreams. Hannah Vogel v. the Nazis. A hero without a cape or karate. Hmm, maybe each of us has such courage buried inside.

[Rachel Brady · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a lovely story about a woman's search for the truth in pre-Nazi Berlin, when everything is uncertain--from the political climate to when protagonist Hannah Vogel will eat her next meal. Cantrell has set a compelling mystery in the midst of a city and time most of us can't imagine, yet she's done so in a way that made me feel I was there. I enjoyed Hannah on many levels: her career as a newspaper reporter writing under a male pseudonym, her emotional recovery following a challenging childhood and a romantic loss, her determination to find her brother's killer, and her touching relationship with secondary characters, not mentioned here because I don't want to spoil anything. Fans of historical fiction should not miss this series. I'm looking forward to Cantrell's next Hannah Vogel mystery.

[James · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of many character flaws is a deep enjoyment of detective stories set in the weimar republic and third reich, I blame watching raiders of the lost ark at an impressionable age. I am therefore pretty non discriminating and as long as you hit the period detail, brave person in a sea of lunacy and creepy nazis I am there. At the start I really liked the twist of having the hero be a woman, especially as other authors in the genre are pretty slapdash with their female characters.

Reading this book taught me that I do actually have some standards and will not just consume anything in the genre. The injection of a mills and boon sub-plot was comedy gold but not in a good way, a cloying infant, and dialogue that screamed "100% guaranteed to never actually be uttered by a real person" really really sucked. So apologies to Harris, Deighton, Furst and Kerr it is harder than it looks.

[Cold War Conversations Podcast · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in Berlin in 1931 the book describes a period not seen in many novels, the era between the massive inflationary years and pre the Nazis coming to absolute power.

You also rarely find such a strong female character as Hannah Vogel. A 30 year old crime reporter who has to write under a male pseudonym for her work to be taken seriously.

The story opens with her weekly visit to Police Headquarters where the Hall of the Unnamed Dead carries on its walls photos of unidentified bodies. Much to her horror she sees her brother's photo which leads her on a twisting and turning journey involving real life characters as well as fictional ones.

I'm looking forward to reading the next in the series.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to add a new shelf just for this book: "noir". And when I think about it, there doesn't seem to be a setting as perfect for a noir mystery than Berlin in the 1930's. It doesn't even need any embellishment by the author to create the atmosphere of unreality, violence and decay. Or as the dictionary says: "a genre of crime literature featuring tough, cynical characters and bleak settings". Well, I don't know that they come much bleaker than Berlin during the rise of the Nazi party. Even reading about it can put a knot in your stomach as the little things - precursors to Germany's military aggression and "final solution" - appear in the novel.

Hannah Vogel is a single woman in 1931 Berlin. A firm Socialist, she is appalled at the power she sees accumulating around the Nazis, but still believes that there is a limit to what they can eventually control and that Germany will come to it's senses and that they will eventually be voted out of power. At least she feels that way at the beginning of the novel, by the end, although she has no real idea how far things will go, she has admitted to herself that they are out of control and she is no longer certain how they will end.

While A Trace of Smoke remains Hannah's search to find out what happened to her murdered brother, the book is fascinating and hard to put down. However, about half-way through the picture broadens and national politics come into play - potentially history changing politics - and that is where my interest began to wane. I'm not much for "international spy thrillers" or other books that use the entire world as their playing field, I'm more interested in ordinary people and their lives, but in this case it was an even more jarring change than it would have been in another book. 1930's Berlin was a very personal place, full of personal fears that could not be discussed safely and personal secrets that could not be discussed at all. Everyone's lives shrank as their fear grew. When Cantrell's focus began to broaden to include events on a larger scale, it broke my immersion into the time period and I began to feel distanced and my attention wandered. After all, we know how things turned out for Berlin and the Nazi's on a larger scale - there is no suspense involved.

That said, A Trace of Smoke is Rebecca Cantrell's first novel and I enjoyed it enough that I will pick up her second.

[Marlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hannah Vogel is a single 32-year-old woman in a Germany where Nazi-ism is becoming rampant. A crime reporter for the Berliner Tageblatt, she considers herself fairly tough and unshakeable. But when, on a regular visit to the police station she sees a photo of her younger brother Ernst in the photos of the unnamed dead, the unidentified bodies discovered over the past week, she is (understandably) upset.

Hannah's friend Fritz Waldheim is the policeman on duty, though, so she tries not to show it. She doesn't want anyone to find out that she and Ernst loaned their identity papers to a Jewish friend so she and her son could leave the country. Once Sarah and Tobias arrive in America, the papers will be returned, but until then, Hannah and Ernst must be virtually invisible.

Hannah succeeds in distracting Fritz before he sees the photograph of Ernst, but she determines that she will discover what happened to her brother and try to avenge his death. She still has to do her job as a crime reporter, but because of it, she knows some investigative tricks.

Ernst was a performer in a gay bar, and had some very important benefactors. Hannah knows little about his life besides where he lived and worked, and that's where she begins.

Meanwhile, a 5-year-old boy appears on her doorstep, claiming to be Ernst's son, and Hannah has another puzzle to solve.

I'm not usually a fan of historical fiction, but I was totally taken with this story. This is one of the books which had me torn between gobbling it up and slowly savoring. I guess I managed a happy medium, but it was a gripping read.

Another Hannah Vogel story, A Night of Long Knives, is due out in June, but that seems a very long time to wait.

[Bob Mustin · Rating 4 out of 5]

During the two years of my MLA studies, I grew into a fascination with the emergence of Germany’s Third Reich – how it happened and why. Since, I’ve looked, beyond historical texts, to fiction relating to the years between the World Wars in Germany, and to the more modern novels of post-WWII.

Cantrell’s book is a venture into a genre blending of mystery and historical fiction – a blend I find near irresistible. In a word, the author has taken up where CABARET left off. Historically, we see a German people still suffering from the debilitating effects of the Treaty of Versailles and the ensuing inflation, coupled with a growing paranoia over the rise of the Nazis.

But this is simply Cantrell’s backdrop. In the foreground we have news reporter Hannah Vogel telling us in first person, first of discovering that her flamingly gay brother Ernst has been killed and dumped naked in the river. But this is no ordinary murder – Ernst has powerful gay friends in Cantrell’s Berlin, and some of them are highly placed Nazis. Hannah soon loses her job over her quest to conceal Ernst’s death as she ferrets out the reasons for the murder.

Cantrell has mastered the gift of creating a page-turner, replete with blind alleys, suspense, near-death experiences – all in the social and political underbelly of Germany between the World Wars. Throughout, she overwrites details and feels compelled to over-explain almost everything to her readers. If she can learn to pare her prose, leaving room for the reader to interpret the story, she may very well place her writing up there with the likes of Dennis Lehane.

[meghann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the Barnes and Noble serial read for the month of May.

This was one of those books that just kept getting better the further into it I got. I actually did not like Hannah at the beginning of the story. I feel like she was a product of all the horrible things that had happened in her life. It wasn't until she let two new people into her life that all the walls came down and I really got to see the true Hannah. She turned into a total badass by the end, and I am living for it. She's playing a dangerous game, and I just know it will all catch up to her in the next book. Can't wait to see how she handles it.

[Gabriela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book which I read as a NOOK Serial over the course of May. Courageous Hanna Vogel, crime reporter/journalist in Berlin right at the start of a brewing WW, is way out of her depth at solving the mystery of her brother’s death. Moving In circles most other people don’t want to know about she persists at great danger and the cost of - perhaps - a great love. I want to know how the story goes on as this was only the beginning ....

[TBML · Rating 2 out of 5]

An evocative and dark novel about the end of Weimar Berlin. Rebecca Cantrell's A Trace of Smoke follows Hannah Vogel, a crime reporter as she tries to unravel the mystery of her brother's death. Cantrell gives us a tour of the more flamboyant and seedy alleys of 1931 Berlin which includes cabarets, cocaine, prostitutes and homosexuals. Aside from the mystery of her cross-dressing brother's death, the story is haunted by a mounting social and political fear as the Nazis continue their ascent to power.
Despite this wonderfully noir setting so ripe with mysterious possibility, Cantrell is very much writing in the suspense genre which includes much of the usual formulae. Her writing for the most part is fresh but there are times where she dredges up some glaring cliches. For one who is a harsh judge of the suspense genre, I was intrigued by the setting and plot and quickly devoured the book. It is a shame that it did not live up to all it's potential, but it is defintely worth a read.--Brita
Click here to find the book in our library.

[Mal Warwick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Celebrate the debut of an emerging star as both a writer of crime novels and of historical fiction. Rebecca Cantrell's A Trace of Smoke marks the advent of Hannah Vogel, an investigative crime reporter in Berlin in the year 1931, when Adolf Hitler's brownshirts were dismantling the last vestiges of the Weimar Republic.

In A Trace of Smoke, Hannah Vogel investigates the murder of her beloved younger brother, Ernst. In the process, she finds herself caught up in the deadly drama of Berlin's gay and transvestite underground society, which leads her close to the top of the emerging Nazi leadership. Cantrell convincingly evokes the smoky foreboding of the underground and the brutal menace of growing Nazi power, revealing both the best and the worst of German character as she tells this suspenseful tale.

A Trace of Smoke was Cantrell's first novel of crime in Nazi-era Germany. It was followed by The Night of Long Knives. Two more entries in the Hannah Vogel series are due in 2011 and 2012.

[Deborah Ledford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an amazing read. Rebecca Cantrell takes us on a suspenseful ride of 1931 Berlin brimming with intrigue, suspicion and murder. This capable writer presents visuals and details so rich you can feel the atmosphere and varied cultures fraught with trepidation as to what Germany and its people will become.

Hannah Vogel, Anton, Boris and especially Ernst are captivating characters, memorable and lasting. I read every word of this debut novel as I didn't want to rush or miss a single detail.

Kudos to Ms. Cantrell on the awards already bestowed, and fingers crossed for the Macavity and Barry award nominations.

Looking forward to more of Hannah, Anton and Boris in the next book of the series "A Night of Long Knives."

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a well-written historical novel that had me hooked from the first chapter. The novel boasts strong character development along with a fast paced and suspenseful storyline. It presents a look into the personal life of prominent Nazi soldiers and Nazi Germany that is not often depicted. Though this novel is fiction, it weaves enough nonfiction facts into the story, and it is very easy for the reader to forget it is fiction and take what is being read as fact. I highly recommend this to anyone who is interested in crime/murder mysteries and Nazi Germany. I look forward to the continuing story with her next novel.

[Dhogarty · Rating 2 out of 5]

Imagine what one would include when writing a murder mystery set in Wiemar Germany right before the Nazis rise to power, and Cantrell's got it. Sadist homosexual Nazis--check. Sadist heterosexual military men--check. Murdered cross-dressing MacGuffin--check. Prostitutes--check. Plucky child in danger--check. Heroine who wants romantic love and plucky child--check. Cast of supporting resourceful Jewish characters who ably help the protagonist without imagining their heavily foreshadowed impending doom--check. Oh yeah! Priceless jewel--check. (** 1/2)

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoroughly enjoyable mystery set in 1931 Germany. As Hitler gains power, a Berlin crime reporter learns that her homosexual, cross-dressing younger brother has been murdered, and there are several legitimate suspects, including Hitler's right-hand man. It's filled with evocative narrative and an excellent sense of time and place. In less competent hands, some of the subject matter could go way too far down Sordid Lane, but Cantrell does a good job of exploring this particular underbelly without taking things too far.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading this novel and was sorry to see it come to an end. It had been on my radar for sometime and I moved it to the top of my reading list when I found out Rebecca Cantrell was coming to the area for a book signing. I'm now looking forward to reading the second Hannah Vogel novel, A Night of Long Knives, which was just released in June.

Set in 1931 Berlin A Trace of Smoke is a skillfully written mystery/thriller with a literary sensibility. I was hooked on the first page. This richly detailed story does not get bogged down by the details because the details are so organic to the story. Hannah Vogel and the surrounding cast of characters are vivid flesh and blood people. Their lives are in flux due to the aftermath of The Great War and the rise of the Nazi Party, which is poised to take control of not only the city, but of Germany. Some people, such as Hannah's Jewish friend Sarah and her brother, have fled Germany while others are trying to negotiate the shifting political landscape. As a result, the climate is one of increasing distrust, suspicion, and violence.

Hannah has just discovered something horrible when we meet her on the first pages. The brother that she practically raised as her own son, Ernst, had been distant from her for the last six months and now he's dead. Murdered. Hannah sees his picture in the Hall of the Unnamed Dead at the Alexanderplatz police station and must keep the information to herself. He was fished out of the water, naked, with no signs of violence on his body other than a single stab wound through his heart. Hannah is a crime reporter and was at the police station for her weekly Monday meeting with a contact who gives her access to reports for potential stories about the murders, rapes, and other crimes committed over the weekend.

She tells no one that Ernst is dead because she, like her dead brother, currently has no identity papers. Hannah and Ernst had loaned their identity papers to Sarah and her brother who used the papers to escape from the increasingly violent antisemitism of the Nazis. They used the papers and posed as Hannah and Ernst going on vacation to America. If Hannah were to report Ernst's death, all could be lost for Sarah and her brother. So for now she keeps her own brother's murder to herself, at least until the identity papers are returned, and starts her own investigation into the murder.

Hannah's brother was gay and the star performer at the El Dorado, a posh drag club, and that's her first investigative stop. Although he's the star attraction, Hannah is surprised to find that his coworkers at the bar aren't all that upset he's gone missing. Apparently he's disappeared like this for a few days in the past. But are some not upset because they're the murderers and know he's dead?

The story starts to unfold from there and includes a rich cast of characters, some who have been celebrated and/or decried as representing the "decadence" of Wiemar Berlin: drag queens, gay Nazis, prostitutes whose specialties are advertised by the boots they wear, as well as a powerful lawyer, reporters, Jewish shop owners and peddlers trying to maintain their livelihood in the only home they've ever know, an attractive banker and his daughter, an orphaned boy, and a cat named Mitzi.

Some of the details I didn't particularly notice at first because they are so skillfully woven into the fabric of the narrative, such as this example which is so revealing of Hannah's character and life:

After breakfast, I cleaned the apartment, like every other week for as long as I could remember. Anton helped me scrub the floor and wipe down the table. The last time I changed the sheets, Ernst had been alive. The time before that, Sarah had been living in Berlin and my identity papers were safely in my pocket. What would my life be like the next time I changed the sheets?

I read a few paragraphs beyond these lines and then stopped in my tracks to reflect on how seamlessly Cantrell had woven this important aspect of Hannah's character into the narrative. Hannah, we're informed earlier, was raised to be a wife and mother, as were most middle class women of the time period, and the quote above reflects that fact. However, it also clearly reveals how her life shapes her thinking. It is such a subtle but profound detail, one of those things that seeps into your brain while reading that you may not notice but that makes the character and story all the richer.

From my experience growing up with a mother and aunts who were raised in Germany between the 1920s-1940s, German women don't simply take their household chores seriously. Its something deeper than a duty, its a part of who they are. There's no drama surrounding chores--no bitching and moaning or lamenting--the work just gets done. And it gets done perfectly. You wash and clean. I think of the scene in The Reader when another German woman named Hanna (Hanna Schmitz) cleans up the young boy she doesn't even know as well as the sidewalk where he gets sick. Even my high school German teacher went off one day about the importance of cleaning what cannot even be seen: your undergarments. She thought there was nothing more detestable than a young girl or boy who looked good on the outside, but who wore dirty undergarments. Sounds like she had issues, doesn't it?

Back to the book: I attended Rebecca Cantrell's book signing on Monday night. (It was a joint signing with Shane Gericke whose books are set in Naperville, IL). One questioner asked Cantrell how she was able to write a novel that reads so convincingly like its in the present when we all know the horrific outcome of Nazi rule. Cantrell said that of course no one back then knew what would happen, so when researching the time period she stops reading research sources at the date/year she's currently writing about in an attempt to make sure Hannah doesn't know about events that she shouldn't yet know about.

And this was a great learning experience for me: Cantrell said she is careful to ensure that Hannah and other characters only comment on things that they would notice and not on historical detail. This made so much sense to me and really brought home why the sheet changing scene made such an impact on me. It also helped me understand why some historical fiction may seem to have all the right stuff, yet it doesn't ring true or gets bogged down in details: we don't notice physical details and reoccurring events in our own lives unless there's a reason for it, so why include such detail in a story unless it is somehow integral to character development or the story?

I was happy to hear that Cantrell has plans to write a total of nine Hannah Vogel mysteries: three pre-war, three during the war, and three post-war. A trilogy of trilogies. A Trace of Smoke will appeal to fans of Philip Kerr, Joseph Kanon, Robert Harris, WWII buffs, and mystery readers who enjoy strong and believable women investigators.

[Laura Edwards · Rating 3 out of 5]

I settled in to read "A Trace of Smoke" with high hopes. Good premise, interesting setting, evocative and taut atmosphere. But by the time I finished Chapter 7, however, it was clear Ms. Cantrell's writing was not pulling me into the story as I had hoped. Persevere until the end? I decided "yes" and not long after little Anton was introduced into the story, capturing my heart immediately and keeping me invested in the story when I might not have been otherwise.

The best parts of the book were the scenes featuring Hannah and Anton. If I continue on with this series it will be mainly to see their developing relationship (added to the fact I already have the next two books, picked up at a library sale for pennies a piece).

[David Lowther · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Trace of Smoke is an exceptional noir thriller set in Berlin on the cusp of the accession of the Nazis coming to power in the early 1930s.

Hannah Vogel is an very resourceful journalist who puts herself in harm's way while trying rot find out who murdered her younger brother who is gay.

It's a very dark tale and visiting dignitaries include the odious Ernst Röhm, leader of the brutal and dangerous brownshirts.

The great strength of the novel is the sense of time and place of Germany's capital and the top class characterisation. A Trace of Smoke is the first of several thrillers featuring Hannah Vogel and I can wholeheartedly recommend it to you.

David Lowther. Author of The Blue Pencil, Liberating Belsen, Two Families at War and the Summer of '39, all published by Sacristy Press.

[N]

I was looking forward to reading this, so it's a shame that it's a DNF for me. Its setting in Weimar Germany is ripe for boundary-breaking and noirish intrigue, but A Trace of Smoke just ends up feeling convoluted and gloomy.

I think there's just too much going on -- protagonist Hannah is trying to solve her brother's murder, while also covering a rape case as a crime reporter; she's in an on-again/off-again romance, and is grappling with suddenly being a mother. It's just so Much that it doesn't leave room for enough nuance or emotion.

[Emmy Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed reading this historical mystery. It was based off actual events in history, with a fictional story weaved in. It gives the reader a taste of what it was like living in Berlin in the 1930's. Looking forward to book 2. The ending leaves you satisfied, but you want more.
What is in store for Hannah and Anton in book 2?

[Paul Groves · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this book would not be a choice for me I won it in a competition and thought I would give it a go. I was pleasantly surprised. It was a good insight into pre WW2 Germany with the added twist of a murder mystery. Well worth a read

[☕Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me this book started stronger than it ended.

Ratings:

Writing 4
Story line 4
Characters 3
Impact 3

Overall rating 3.5