The Silent Death - (Gereon Rath Mystery) by Volker Kutscher (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

THE BASIS FOR THE INTERNATIONAL TV SENSATION BABYLON BERLIN

"[Kutscher's] trick is ingenious...He's created a portrait of an era through the lens of genre fiction."--The New York Times

Volker Kutscher, author of the international bestseller Babylon Berlin, continues his Gereon Rath Mystery series with The Silent Death as a police inspector investigates the crime and corruption of a decadent 1930s Berlin in the shadows of the growing Nazi movement.

March 1930: The film business is in a process of change. Talking films are taking over the silver screen and many a producer, cinema owner, and silent movie star is falling by the wayside.

Celebrated actress Betty Winter is hit by a spotlight while filming a talkie. At first it looks like an accident, but Superintendent Gereon Rath finds clues that point to murder. While his colleagues suspect the absconded lighting technician, Rath's investigations take him in a completely different direction, and he is soon left on his own.

Steering clear of his superior who wants him off the case, Rath's life gets more complicated when his father asks him to help Cologne mayor Konrad Adenauer with a case of blackmail, and ex-girlfriend Charly tries to renew their relationship--all while tensions between Nazis and Communists escalate to violence.

Review Quotes

"An atmospheric and immersive thriller."--The Sunday Herald

"Set in atmospheric 1930s Berlin, where a maverick detective is hunting a serial killer, The Silent Death, [like its predecessor, Babylon Berlin, ] owes much to its author's commitment to historical accuracy and the cynical feel of the times."--Peter James, internationally bestselling author of the Roy Grace Detective series

Praise for Volker Kutscher's Babylon Berlin

"The first in a series that's been wildly popular in Germany is an excellent police procedural that cleverly captures the dark and dangerous period of the Weimer Republic before it slides into the ultimate evil of Nazism."--Kirkus Reviews

"James Ellroy fans will welcome Kutscher's first novel and series launch, a fast-paced blend of murder and corruption sent in 1929 Berlin. Kutscher keeps the surprises coming and doesn't flinch at making his lead morally compromised."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Conjures up the dangerous decadence of the Weimar years, with blood on the Berlin streets and the Nazis lurking menacingly in the wings."--The Sunday Times (London)

"Gereon's inquiries drag him through the mire of Berlin's underworld and the chaos of the politics of the period. Riveting and atmospheric."--Library Journal

"Gripping evocative thriller set in Berlin's seedy underworld during the roaring twenties. A massive hit in its native Germany, Volker Kutscher's series, centered on Detective Inspector Gereon Rath, is currently being filmed for television."--Mail on Sunday (London)

About the Author

VOLKER KUTSCHER was born in 1962. He studied German, philosophy, and history, and worked as a newspaper editor prior to writing his first detective novel. Babylon Berlin, the start of an award-winning series of novels to feature Gereon Rath and his exploits in late Weimar Republic Berlin, was an instant hit in Germany. The series was awarded the Berlin Krimi-Fuchs Crime Writers Prize in 2011 and has sold more than one million copies worldwide and was adapted as a 12-part Netflix miniseries by Tom Tykwer (director of Cloud Atlas and The International). He lives in Cologne.

NIALL SELLAR was born in Edinburgh in 1984. He studied German and translation studies in Dublin, Konstanz and Edinburgh, and has worked variously as a translator, teacher, and reader. In addition to translation work, he currently teaches modern foreign languages in Harrow. He lives in London.