Until the last 1/4th of this book, I was considering giving up Philip Kerr's "Berlin Noir" series of which I was so excited to read. The issue is in hardboiled Chandler-esque work, there is supposed to be a moral ambiguity for the characters as related to the background (40s-50s Los Angeles, the perfect setting for noir). Whereas Nazi-era Berlin pretty much differentiates the good guys from the bad. Kerr takes it to another level with his characters in which all anti-Nazis are good (including Guenther) and all Nazis are evil, grotesque people (ex. the Julius Streicher cameo. Streicher was a horrible human being, of that I have no doubt. But in relation to the story, his appearance was little more than gratuitous). Stripping this kind of ambiguity from the story and all you have is Kerr's dialogue (which is good), interesting historical scenery and a mystery that will eventually solve itself.

But the last 1/4th of the book, which I won't give away, revs it (finally!) into another gear and I can see how the Marlowe-in-Nazi-Berlin comparisons have happened. It turned out better than "March Violets," which I liked. I was close to quitting on the series altogether, now I'm looking forward to reading "A German Requiem" and future Kerr works. Hopefully that last 1/4th is just a foretaste of the feast to come.