Novembertod

Es geschah in Berlin... #5

by Iris Leister

Es ist der 9. November 1918: Berlin befindet sich im Aufruhr. Während Kriminalkommissar Hermann Kappe auf die Geburt seines ersten Kindes wartet, wird in den Straßen der Reichshauptstadt eine neue Zeit geboren. Ausgerechnet jetzt wird auf offener Straße Freiherr Heinrich von Brettin erschossen. Bei seinen Ermittlungen in den Wirren der Novemberrevolution begegnet Kappe die gesamte Bandbreite der Berliner von einer flugbegeisterten Freiherrin über exzentrische Filmdiven bis zu revolutionären Sozialdemokraten und rechtsradikalen Kriminellen.

Kindle Edition

First published January 31, 2013

Reviews

[Jeroen · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a disappointing read, and I ended up skimming through half of the book. The characters felt like cardboard cutouts, either unlikable or unremarkable, including the protagonist himself. It's not explicitly this author's fault, Kappe is in general not a sympathetic or interesting character throughout the entire series.

The investigation and surrounding events were, for the most part, clichéd. I also dislike when the murderer’s identity is revealed from the start. And by that I mean that all the involved parties were obvious even if some of them were presented as a big twist at the end. Here we also have the most boring cliches there are: a fanatic with an obsessive fixation on his scalpel who of course had to engage into disgusting sex-scene, evil and corrupt politicians etc.

but what truly enraged me was the fanfic-like fluffy ending, abruptly disrupted by a scene of violence against a child. This scene made me so furious that I decided to waste even more of my time on this book by writing a review. Awful things happened to children back then, and they still happen today. I’m not opposed to realism in books, but this scene was cheap. It was drama for the sake of drama, clearly intended to shock the reader and leave an impression. Well, Iris Leister, you failed. The only impression you left was disappointment. I won’t be picking up another of your books if I come across one.

The single star I’m giving goes to the historical research, which seemed reasonably accurate and likely required significant effort. I wish there was more quality literature set at this time period.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spannend deel uit de reeks 'Es geschah in Berlin.'Centraal staan de historische gebeurtenissen rond 11 november 1918: het aftreden van de keizer, de wapenstilstand en de Spartakistenopstand,de reactie van de sociaal-democratische regering en de rechts-extremistische Freikorpsen op deze communistische poging tot machtsovername.
Ik kende Iris Leister nog niet maar het viel zeker niet tegen. Ze schrijft goed geïnformeerd en wat 'vlotter'dan oudgediende Bosetzky.