RARA-AVIS: Philip Kerr

Gary Warren Niebuhr (piesbook@execpc.com)
Wed, 03 Dec 1997 08:06:50 -0800 >Philip Kerr's March Violets. Has anyone read this book? It
>has one plot problem and a somewhat weak ending, but otherwise is very
>strong. The PI is a Marlowe-like figure (except he has sex twice),
>wise-cracking, etc. doing the Chandler thing (rich industrialists,
>holding out for clients, etc), all in pre-war Nazi Germany. This
>setting prevents its hardboiledness from seeming purely nostalgic for
>the Chandler mode. It's derivative, but pretty well written. Can
>anyone comment on Kerr's other work?

I think that the Bernie Gunther trilogy is one of the finest historical
mysteries series that I have read, and ranks right up at the top with Max
Allan Collins. MARCH VIOLETS has a mystery that is relatively simple, but
the setting, time period and character more than make up for it. THE PALE
CRIMINAL also takes place prior to WWII, and begins around a case of
blackmail that leads to Bernie's partner being killed (can we see a
connection here?). Bernie is forced to return to the Kripo (Criminal
Police) on a different case that involves the murder of teenage girls.
Again, I was most impressed with the use of the time period and setting,
but I really like Bernie as a character as well. A GERMAN REQUIEM gives us
Bernie after the war, in a Europe that is much changed. Because I thought
this book had less focus on Bernie and more on focus on the lingering
effects of Nazism and the disappearance of some Nazi agents, I did not
think was as effective as the first two. But I would recommend the series
to all P. I. buffs, WWII buffs, or hardboiled fans.

Kerr's other work I have skipped, as it seems to have gone quite far afield
of anything P. I. related. Best, GWN.

P.I.E.S. (Private Investigator Entertainment Service)
Catalogs of new and used private eye fiction
Gary Warren Niebuhr, Owner
P. O. Box 341218
Milwaukee, WI 53224
piesbook@execpc.com
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