sunnyaz4me's review against another edition
5.0
Loved it despite having to put it down and pick it back up so much due to life's little interferences! Can't wait to get my hands in the next one!!!
ellamarieedel's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting and engaging, but parts seemed unfinished and unclear and the writing was pretty meh. At times the story seemed unbelievable/unrealistic.
appalonia's review against another edition
2.0
Set in 1931 Berlin, this story follows newspaper journalist Hannah Vogel after she finds out her brother has been murdered. Hannah decides she can’t approach the police to investigate, since she had recently loaned her identity papers to a friend who wanted to immigrate to America (a fairly transparent plot device.) The plot was a little confusing at times, simply because there is a whole lot going on. It also bothers me that Hannah didn’t bother searching Ernst’s apartment for clues to his murder. She obviously had access, and that would be the first place I’d look. I also had some problems with the resolution to the mystery (see spoilers below). All in all a good historical mystery, but one too convoluted to thoroughly enjoy. I probably won’t read subsequent books in the series.
WARNING: This next section of the review contains spoilers for the end of the story.
The reason for Ernst mailing Hannah the love letters from the Nazi officer never made sense to me. The act insinuated that he was feeling threatened by the man, but that never panned out. Also, although I’m sure people will disagree, I felt uncomfortable with the fact that Hannah felt entitled to steal a child that she knew wasn’t hers. I understand the motivation, but I think that story thread could have been resolved a bit better without outright kidnapping.
WARNING: This next section of the review contains spoilers for the end of the story.
The reason for Ernst mailing Hannah the love letters from the Nazi officer never made sense to me. The act insinuated that he was feeling threatened by the man, but that never panned out. Also, although I’m sure people will disagree, I felt uncomfortable with the fact that Hannah felt entitled to steal a child that she knew wasn’t hers. I understand the motivation, but I think that story thread could have been resolved a bit better without outright kidnapping.
majkia's review against another edition
5.0
First of the Hannah Vogel series, the story begins with a 30 year old single woman on her own in 1931 Berlin, The Nazis are just beginning to step up their persecution of Jews and homosexuals.
Hannah’s young brother is a gay man who sings and dances at a gay club in the city. She writes a column for the newspaper and goes to the police station to gather information for a column and finds her brother’s picture on the wall of the unknown dead newly discovered in the city. He’d been stabbed and thrown into the river, naked. She admits to no one her brother is dead and determines to discover who has killed him – someone he knows? Or some roaming bad of Nazi soldiers?
The story takes many twists and turns and the discovery of the killer is complicated by secrets and lies her brother told and kept and the need to hide her interest from the authorities for fear she herself might be killed by learning too much about very powerful men.
I appreciated this view of Germany after the Great War and as Hitler was just beginning to create his fascist state. Hannah as believable and her actions obviously those of someone who navigated dangerous waters just barely ahead of people out to keep her brother’s secrets secret.
I hope to continue this series soon.
A ROOT (from 2012), a 2014Category Challenge (Category 8 Spies and Lies), a TIOLI and a RandomCAT.
sharonfalduto's review against another edition
This was a nice, atmospheric, noirish book set in Berlin in 1931--so the Nazis aren't quite there yet, but they're coming up in power. The heroine, intrepid reporter Hannah Vogel, sees her brother's photo in the Hall of Unnamed Dead at the police station. She can't request help from anyone, though, because her brother's papers are currently accompanying a Jewish friend as he escapes from Germany. So she sets out to investigate the murder and runs in to many surprises along the way. We also step into the early 1930s cabaret scene, as her brother was a crossdresser. I wouldn't call it a fun romp, but it was a good read, and it looks like there's another book in the series so I'll have to check that out.
sarahs_readingparty's review against another edition
5.0
AWESOME book!!! Best mystery/thriller I have read in a long time. This book is so action-packed and with such great characters. I'll admit it--I totally fell in love with Anton and even Boris. I'm completely unfamiliar with 1930s Germany (except for the key events) so reading about the years leading up to WWII are so fascinating. I'm so glad this is a series! I couldn't put it down.
sdc46250's review
5.0
Just an amazing book on so many levels. Superb plot, characterization, atmosphere. I loved that the female protagonist is strong and resourceful!
diane's review against another edition
4.0
Very good mystery set in Berlin, right before the rise of the Nazis. I love depictions of what life must have been like at that time, to explain why people did what they did.
jakewritesbooks's review against another edition
3.0
A decent debut novel. Not as heavy on atmosphere as other Nazi-noir works but still good. The mystery is eh but the characters are compelling enough to make you care.