A German Requiem is a detective novel and the last in the Berlin Noir trilogy written by Philip Kerr

Philip Kerr

Philip Kerr is a British author of both adult fiction and non-fiction, most notably the Bernie Gunther series of thrillers, and of children's books, particularly the Children of the Lamp series....

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Plot overview

After spending the latter part of the war in a Soviet prisoner-of-war camp, 1947 sees Bernhard Gunther now married to Kirsten, who seems to be trading sex with U.S. Army officers for scarce goods. Both Berlin and Vienna are overrun by the Russian Army, so Germans, former Nazis, Allied occupiers, and Gunther have the "Ivans" to contend with now. An old comrade from Gunther's days in Berlin, a dirty cop and smuggler named Becker, has been accused and jailed in Vienna for the killing of an American officer, and he offers Gunther big money to investigate the case and spring him. The case throws Gunther into the topsy-turvy world of former Nazis hired by the U.S. to spy on the Russians, but who of course have certain agendas of their own. His investigation also parallels the filming of The Third Man

The Third Man

The Third Man is a 1949 British film noir, directed by Carol Reed and starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, and Trevor Howard. Many critics rank it as a masterpiece, particularly remembered for its atmospheric cinematography, performances, and unique musical score...

by a British film crew in the city, and what happens to him mirrors the plot of the film in subtle ways. There are almost more plot twists and betrayals than the reader can follow, leading to a shocking climax at a secluded vineyard estate with brutal Latvian guards, a wine press, and other figures from Bernie's past.

Characters

• Bernhard Gunther
• Max Abs
• Emil Becker
• Heinrich Muller
• Traudl Braunsteiner
• John Belinsky
• Martin Albers

Publication history

• 1991, London, United Kingdom, Viking Press, ISBN 9780670835164, Hardback