There are the Krimis which are set in very specific, generally rural German locations “using lots of dialect that wouldn’t be understood an hour down the road”, as Kat Hall puts it. RegiokrimiĪ paid-up member of the cosy crime club, regional crime fiction is probably more established in Germany than it is in the UK. Lee Chadeayne) has you covered – with the first book set during the witch trials of the 17 th century. Or if you want to go further back in time, Oliver Pötzsch’s The Hangman’s Daughtersequence (tr. (I know what they say about judging books, but honestly, I’d buy the latest book in the series – Der Ballhaus Mörder – for the cover alone.) And as a sucker for historical crime with a female investigator (specific, I know), I can’t wait to get my hands on Anne Stern’s Fräulein Gold series, which sees a Berlin midwife solving crimes.īut as Kat Hall, translator and crime reviewer points out, recent Krimis have explored a far wider range of historical settings, with books like Uwe Klausner‘s ‘Sydow’ series engaging with the legacy of the GDR and the Baader-Meinhof terrorist attacks that shook Germany in the 1970s. Each book is set in a different milieu, with murders taking place during fashion shows or linked to Germany’s burgeoning film industry. If you’re a fan of Babylon Berlin and you read German, you might want to check out Susanne Goga’s Charlottenburg series, set in the murky world of Berlin’s alleged golden age in the 1920s. The first book in the Oppenheimer series, Germania follows a Jewish detective who’s reactivated by the Gestapo in 1944 as their attempts to find a serial killer grow increasingly desperate. Alexandra Roesch), which has garnered comparisons with Philip Kerr. Also recently out in English is Harald Gilber’s Germania (tr. Niall Sellar) has been the runaway success story of recent years, exploring the Nazis’ rise to power through the eyes of a police investigator – with a pleasingly Cabaret-like atmosphere. Volker Kutcher’s Babylon Berlinseries (tr. German historical crime is probably the genre that’s made the biggest impact on the UK book market – in part thanks to a certain British obsession with the Nazi period. “You’re writing about German crime fiction? So, like, Babylon Berlin?” So what are German crime fans reading at the moment? And what should we be adding to our TBR piles? Historical crime On the whole, they aren’t going to think of Germany.Īnd yet crime fiction and thrillers are a huge segment of the German book market, with contemporary Krimis (crime novels) shifting tens of millions of copies and regularly topping the bestseller list. Or they might mention a long-running series with a semi-exotic setting and a TV adaptation – Inspector Montalbano, perhaps, or Maigret. Longworth’s Aix-en-Provence mysteries.Mention translated crime, and the chances are that people’s first association will be with Scandinavia. "Very satisfying…along the lines of Martin Walker’s novels set in Dordogne, or M.L. Bannalec excels at plotting and pacing, as well as vivid descriptions of the Finistère countryside." - Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) on Death in Brittany "Francophiles and art lovers will welcome Bannalec’s good old-fashioned detective story set in Brittany. If this isn't heaven, it's close enough." - The New York Times Armchair travelers and gourmands alike will appreciate visiting this region of Brittany." - Publishers Weekly "Series fans will enjoy seeing Dupin’s relationship with Claire deepen. Between bewitched valleys and beautiful beaches, an unfathomable case develops. Shortly after that, the Britanny beach resort is shocked by the discovery of a corpse.ĭupin clandestinely begins to investigate with the help of the local villagers, something he must keep a secret from Claire and his colleagues in Concarneau. But then a tourist vanishes without trace and there’s an attack on a deputy to the local assembly, who is involved in confrontations with local farmers. The fabulous dinners on the hotel patio and the rumors about a stolen statue of a saint are the few interesting moments of his days on vacation. Inspector Dupin and Claire are on a two-week vacation, but while Claire seems to enjoy the quiet of the beach, Commissaire Dupin takes every opportunity to leave the beach towel. In The Granite Coast Murders, the sixth installment of Jean-Luc Bannalec's bestselling mystery series, Commissaire Dupin returns to investigate a murder at a gorgeous Brittany beach resort.
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