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City of Shadows

Ariana Franklin

4.03 · Rating details · 3,799 ratings · 454 reviews

A cultured city scarred by war. . . . An eastern émigré with scars and secrets of her own. . . . A young woman claiming to be a Russian grand duchess. . . . A brazen killer, as vicious as he is clever. . . . A detective driven by decency and the desire for justice.

. . . A nightmare political movement steadily gaining power. . . .

This is 1922 Berlin.

One of the troubled city ...more

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Paperback, 422 pages

Published February 6th 2007 by William Morrow Paperbacks (first published May 9th 2006)

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· 3,799 ratings · 454 reviews

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Nov 02, 2008 Will Byrnes rated it liked it

Shelves: mystery-and-spy-fiction

This is a wonderful gripping read. Set in the hyperinflationary, chaotic Berlin of the 1920s, and filled with characters that would be at home in any Eric Ambler, City of Shadows offers a picture of Berlin in the worst throes of economic collapse. Nick is a night club owner, favorite of those in power, those who fill their various needs at his various clubs. But ever on the look out for new sources of income, he hears of a mysterious woman locked away in an asylum. Could she be the true Anastasi ...more

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Aug 18, 2012 Heather Reads Books rated it liked it

Shelves: romanovs, suspense, historical-fiction, russia

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. AUGH. This book.

For its majority, I was thoroughly enjoying it. I bought it on a whim several years ago at the height of my Romanov obsession, and finally got around to choosing it as my most recent "book for the plane ride." I found the characters vivid, the political setting quite interesting, and I love a good murder mystery. The addition of Anna Anderson and the Anastasia mystery were an interesting layer, and I liked how it was all woven together. I was planning to give this a solid four s AUGH. This book.

For its majority, I was thoroughly enjoying it. I bought it on a whim several years ago at the height of my Romanov obsession, and finally got around to choosing it as my most recent "book for the plane ride." I found the characters vivid, the political setting quite interesting, and I love a good murder mystery. The addition of Anna Anderson and the Anastasia mystery were an interesting layer, and I liked how it was all woven together. I was planning to give this a solid four stars. I felt it missed the mark a bit with the diction, but it's a challenge to write a novel in English while setting it in a country where everyone is speaking several other languages. Usage of distinct British slang would pull me out of the story a bit, but it was forgivable.

But the ending. THE ENDING. That knocks it down an entire star.

I loved Esther as a character on her own. Throwing in the OH BY THE WAY I'M ANASTASIA twist in the last four pages felt like such a cheap trick I was outraged. The parallels between Esther's struggle and what Anna might or might not have gone through as possibly being Anastasia were compelling and far more interesting on their own. Leaving the sense of mystery as to whether Anna was or wasn't would have been perfectly fine by me – at least to the characters who knew her. With the magic of hindsight, it has of course been proven that Anna Anderson was not Anastasia and that the grand duchess herself had never gotten out of Ekaterinburg alive. Also, the revelation makes all of Esther's previous POV rather questionable. Yeah, I know she had flashbacks and whatnot, but so many times she too internally seemed to be struggling with whether Anna was the real deal – which obviously shouldn't have happened, knowing who she was from the start. And for all the talk as to whether Anna and even Natalya looked like Anastasia, no one bothered to mention that Esther could have looked like her too? Scars can be disfiguring, sure, but hers didn't even cover her whole face. And then all the resulting coincidences that would have had to happen just to make that possible push me into the realm of being unable to suspend my disbelief. Like what are the odds that Esther gets a job with Nick who just happens to hear of Anna in Dalldorf and decides to pass her off as the grand duchess and just... Blech. Not a needed or well-executed twist, in my opinion. It cheapens the entire story. ...more

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Jul 11, 2010 K rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historicalfiction, mysteriesthrillers

Oh, it's so sad when a book starts out as a five-star book only to gradually creep down to a two. For a while there, Ariana really had me. I was into the plot, I was into the characters, I was even into the setting and the time period. But then, somehow, it suddenly felt way too long, way too draggy, plus there was this abrupt shift where the book suddenly jumped ahead nine years but somehow we were back where we left off, only we weren't.

Esther, our snappy protagonist, is a young Russian Jewish Oh, it's so sad when a book starts out as a five-star book only to gradually creep down to a two. For a while there, Ariana really had me. I was into the plot, I was into the characters, I was even into the setting and the time period. But then, somehow, it suddenly felt way too long, way too draggy, plus there was this abrupt shift where the book suddenly jumped ahead nine years but somehow we were back where we left off, only we weren't.

Esther, our snappy protagonist, is a young Russian Jewish woman who has escaped to depressed 1920s Berlin after the Russian revolution. Scarred physically and emotionally, Esther manages to survive by serving as secretary and part-time mistress to "Prince" Nick, a sleazy yet somehow likeable nightclub owner and confidence man. "Prince" Nick induces an unwilling Esther to cooperate with his latest scheme -- Nick has discovered a woman called Anna Anderson, living in an insane asylum, who claims to be the late czar's daughter Anastasia. Smelling money, Nick gets Anna out of the asylum so he can groom her as Anastasia (with Esther's assistance) and help her claim her inheritance, reaping his own commission in the bargain.

Unfortunately, a series of murders ensues targeting victims who all appear to be connected to Nick's scheme and apparently intended to wipe out Anna/Anastasia herself. Berlin Police Inspector Schmidt, determined to find the killer, ends up collaborating with Esther and eventually forming a relationship with her. Meanwhile, the depressed morale in Berlin is clearly paving the way for Hitler's ascent to power and the murders become increasingly interconnected with pre-Nazi and Nazi movements.

This was all fine with me until the book suddenly jumped ahead nine years. Schmidt and Esther, reunited after a long separation, are both still available and still carrying the torch for each other; Anna/Anastasia, gone to America, suddenly resurfaces; the murderer, dormant for the past nine years, is newly active. And yet, because nine years were skipped, the narrative felt disjointed despite its elements of continuity. At this point I started to feel like this had gone on long enough and things were starting to get repetitive and to lose my interest. I continued plodding through, hoping it would get better. It didn't.

I do give Ariana credit for making pre-WWII Berlin come alive for me. I don't know anyone from that era and can't verify her accuracy, but the book was highly atmospheric and I felt like I understood the context for Hitler's rise for power in a much deeper way than I had previously.

Having said that, I found Schmidt's anti-Hitler, pro-Jewish sentiments highly anachronistic and unbelievable. The fact that he had a Jewish war buddy and eventually, a Jewish lover wasn't sufficient to convince me. Ariana did a great job of evoking the ubiquitous anti-semitism of 1920s and 1930s Berlin -- why, in that context, was Schmidt such a fan of Jews and a critic of Hitler? Had he been simply apathetic or neutral, I would have found his position far more believable.

I couldn't give this book less than three stars, because I really enjoyed the first half. I couldn't give it more, though, because of the way it went south for me afterward.
...more

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Apr 29, 2007 Brandon rated it really liked it

This novel held my attention with three very interesting subplots: the life and travails of a Russian Jewish refugee who escaped the pogroms of the early 1900s, a misanthropic woman who claimed to be the long lost Anastasia Nikolaevna, and the struggles of an honest German detective against the increasingly political police force fashioned by Hitler's socialist party. They all revolve around a series of murders which threaten to destroy all of them as Germany hurdles toward its Holocaust and the ...more

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Nov 03, 2009 Ellen rated it it was amazing

I love Ariana Franklin! I've been reading her historical thrillers--Mistress of the Art of Death--(and I see there's a new one out...) but this book is set in Germany between the two World Wars. It is mysterious, romantic, thought-provoking and full of amazing female characters, both good and 'bad'. I find especially that Franklin has a deep respect and empathy for her characters. She can create a character that is deeply flawed, yet she sets those flaws in the light of human tragedies that we a ...more

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Sep 07, 2010 C.W. rated it it was amazing

Atmospheric, creepy, and clever, Ariana Franklin dips her practiced pen into the well-mined Romanov conspiracy pool and comes up with a dark and riveting take on the Anna Anderson fraud, set in 1920s and 1930s Berlin before and during the Nazis’ clambering to power.

Franklin frames her tale through the eyes of Esther Solomonova, a scarred Jewish survivor of a Russian pogrom now eking out a living serving as a girl-of-all-trades for Prince Nick, the charming conman owner of several risqué cabarets Atmospheric, creepy, and clever, Ariana Franklin dips her practiced pen into the well-mined Romanov conspiracy pool and comes up with a dark and riveting take on the Anna Anderson fraud, set in 1920s and 1930s Berlin before and during the Nazis’ clambering to power.

Franklin frames her tale through the eyes of Esther Solomonova, a scarred Jewish survivor of a Russian pogrom now eking out a living serving as a girl-of-all-trades for Prince Nick, the charming conman owner of several risqué cabarets in Berlin who's always on the look-out for his next high-stakes swindle. Esther's pragmatic approach to life stands in vivid contrast to Nick's latest project— an insane asylum refugee named Anna, whom he's convinced might be Grand Duchess Anastasia, sole surviving daughter of the murdered royal Romanovs. As Berlin sinks into a desperate quagmire of soaring inflation, crime, and political chaos, Esther finds herself acting as caretaker to the arrogant and unkempt Anna, as well as the deadly secret Anna harbors. For Anna is being stalked by someone intent on her destruction, and as those close to Esther start to die, she turns for help to Inspector Schmidt, a boiled-in-sauerkraut detective whose compassion is being tested by the downfall of the liberal Germanic ideals he so fervently believes in.

As always, Franklin's characters are multifaceted; from Esther's pitiless acceptance of her past to Schmidt's dogged determination to see justice served and Anna Anderson’s flagrant indifference to her own uneasy fame. Franklin peppers her tale with a host of lesser and equally vivid characters, as well, including aspiring Nazi sympathizers, flamboyant transvestites, and Russian émigré strippers, each personifying the glittering and ultimately tragic hedonism and corruption that characterized this tumultuous era in Germany. Framed against the dark shadow of Hitler’s inexorable rise, CITY OF SHADOWS is a thinking person’s thriller, its suspense and mystery aspects offering a perfect foil to the bigger questions of man’s inhumanity against man, and the things we all do to survive.
...more

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Jan 02, 2016 Book Concierge rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: murder, 20th-century, library, thriller, concierge, strong-women, historical-fiction

Set in Berlin from 1922 to 1933, this suspense novel explores a turbulent time for the people of Germany, who are struggling with hyper-inflation, a depressed economy and a government unable to get the nation back on its feet following defeat in WWI. Esther Solomonova is a refugee from that era; a Russian Jew who bears the scars of the pogrom which killed her family, she works as a secretary to fellow Russian “Prince” Nick who runs several cabarets. But when Nick discovers a woman in an insane a ...more

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May 28, 2009 Diane rated it it was amazing

Ariana Franklin has once again developed a strong female character, Esther, and placed her in a backdrop of a deteriorating Germany during the early part of the 20th Century. Incorporating German history, the bustle of the city of Berlin, the Anatasia mystery, and a Nazi serial killer into one concise story, Franklin pulls off creating a story that keeps the reader involved from the first page to the last. Two other characters, a determined police detective and a woman who has lost her past, int ...more

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Sep 13, 2020 Ram Kaushik rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-mystery

A dark, brooding tale of murder in 1920s Germany amidst the creeping menace of the Nazis. I enjoyed Ariana Franklin's other Mistress of Death series but her narrative command of a totally different era was impressive.

Germany's period of hyperinflation, the rise of Hitler and his cohorts, and the influx of Russian emigres into Berlin after the fall of the Romanovs in Russia were all important parts of this book. The German policeman and the Jewish survivor of the Russian pogroms were worthy prot ...more

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Jan 01, 2008 CLM rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Book Groups

Shelves: 20th-century, historicalfiction

I dropped a hint that I wanted this for Christmas 2007. It is Diana Norman writing under a pseudonym. The book is set in Germany between the wars and involves the story of the alleged Grand Duchess Anastasia.

Warning: it is very very dark. It reminded me a little of Cabaret.

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Jun 23, 2009 Jan rated it really liked it

Shelves: mystery, historical-fiction

Make that 4.5 stars! Nazis, Anastasia, transvestites, this fascinating book set during Hitler's rise to power in Germany has it all. Ms. Franklin is a wonderful writer and when the end surprised me I realized that she had artfully dropped clues. ...more

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Jan 14, 2009 Susie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: re-read, mystery, historical-fiction

can I give it 6 stars? Pre-WWII Berlin, mystery, history, kick-ass surprise (no spoiling here)

It was a Bong book. . .

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Jan 15, 2018 Marie rated it liked it

Almost every Ariana Franklin book might appear to be boring at the beginning, but later you can be sure you won't be able to put it aside. This piece wasn't an exception, after reading first few pages I thought I'd quit, but something kept me going on. I'm glad I didn't give it up, its gripping story made me swallow the book whole only in five days. The good thing about Franklin's books is that you cannot ever guess the ending and City of Shadows had the most unexpected solution I've ever encoun ...more

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May 30, 2017 Emma rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The best Anastasia Survives book I've ever read, and I've read shelves of them, even though that's not what it's about, though that IS what it's about, in the end. Oh, just read it. (I guessed the Big Twist at--I checked--twelve percent, but it didn't spoil the book even a little.) ...more

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Sep 18, 2020 Roshni rated it liked it

Shelves: historical-mystery

Germany after WWI, hyper-inflation, the aftermath of the Bolshevik revolution, the rise of the Nazis, oh, and a few murders to solve. The setting of this really captures your attention, and I learned a lot about that time. Schmidt, a police officer with surprisingly modern morals and politics, is on the case, but the case is overshadowed by the political and economic situation in Germany.

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Feb 03, 2021 Brook Allen rated it it was amazing

Wow. This book's plot was so involved, I'm convince that Franklin is some sort of author/genius to have compiled it. It's got EVERYTHING: the Romanov tragedy, Anna Anderson (Anastasia), anti-Semitism, the beginnings of the Nazi Party and the SS, as well as a hearty murder mystery. I was enraptured with every page, and Franklin managed a delicious plot twist in the final pages, too.

The characters are just as appetizing. A Jewess with a tragic past that came from a violent pogram--whose mind is as ...more

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Jan 10, 2010 Robin rated it really liked it

I can't write too much right now (plus the book was a while ago...But LOVED it). Ariana Franklin/Diana Norman (she writes under two names - no idea why) helms this historical fiction about 1930s Germany, a dreary, appallingly soul-crushing time for the German national psyche, sizzling with the embers of unrest that allowed Hitlerian philosophy to ignite it into flames. "No!" you want to yell out to the good, poor, struggling, weary, battered, German men and women you are reading about. "NO!" the I can't write too much right now (plus the book was a while ago...But LOVED it). Ariana Franklin/Diana Norman (she writes under two names - no idea why) helms this historical fiction about 1930s Germany, a dreary, appallingly soul-crushing time for the German national psyche, sizzling with the embers of unrest that allowed Hitlerian philosophy to ignite it into flames. "No!" you want to yell out to the good, poor, struggling, weary, battered, German men and women you are reading about. "NO!" there has got to be something you can do, right? But, alas, this is fiction bound by true history, and we know that a deceptively charming, neatly mustached monster is lurking in the wings, waiting for his time to come.

Amongst that foreshadowing is a woman named Ester, scarred, literally and figuratively, by her Russian past. Initially, she never goes further than to utter the word "pogrom," for the other characters and reader to know, but there is an obviously painful background that haunts and tortures her. She works for a likable criminal and ends up meeting a German officer after witnessing/being part of/ a crime (I think...) On the outskirts, there is a woman, living in a mental institution, who claims to be Grand duchess Anastasia Romanov. Ester is sent to "recruit" this woman for the potential fame and fortune he could obtain from being her "manager."

To go further would both complicate my explanation and give away key plot points that take a little trudging along to get to. Take the above characters, put them in a snow globe, whirl around like a tornedo, spit them back out, and POOF! you have some idea about where things end up in the second major "act of the story.

This is a book that is well written, with believable, likable (and unlikable) characters. The plots are very complicated and balance upon the precarious thread that is its 1930s German setting. Like the opening scene in Wizard of Oz, where dorothy is frightened of all the faces flying past her, characters and plot hurl along, some you are highly concious of, others are spine-tingly foreshadowing in the background. But the main foregrounders, Ester, the policeman and the Anastastia doppleganger, are enough to take on their own. It's a meaty book. I wouldn't put it in the major literary/ greatest stories of my life column, but it was damn near close. ...more

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Jan 11, 2010 Rosina Lippi rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, best-beloved, reviewed-here

When I first picked this novel up, I noted that this was only the author's second novel, something that struck me as almost improbable: it reads as though she's been writing for years. And in fact she has. Ariana Franklin is the pen name of Diana Norman -- whose work I adore.

I really have to admire this novel, for its interesting, frustrating, engaging, horrific and wonderful characters and for the complex series of plots and subplots woven together like challah.

Franklin begins with the well kno When I first picked this novel up, I noted that this was only the author's second novel, something that struck me as almost improbable: it reads as though she's been writing for years. And in fact she has. Ariana Franklin is the pen name of Diana Norman -- whose work I adore.

I really have to admire this novel, for its interesting, frustrating, engaging, horrific and wonderful characters and for the complex series of plots and subplots woven together like challah.

Franklin begins with the well known story of Anna Anderson, a woman who appeared in Berlin in 1922 and claimed to be Anastasia, the youngest daughter of Czar Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra. Franklin builds her fictional story around the real controversy that arose at the time: was is possible that one of the grand duchesses had really escaped the murder of the royal family? Was the young woman who claimed to be Anastasia telling the truth, or was she trying to scam her way into an inheritance that wasn't hers?

I won't recount the details of the controversy -- which still rage on, despite the fact that DNA testing was conducted, and many are satisfied with the conclusions drawn from those tests. What is far more interesting is what Franklin does telling a story about those who interacted with Anderson. She does this by means of a series of murders that come close to Anderson, and she does it very well.

By the end of the novel the question of who Anderson really was is moot, because a far more interesting storyline -- two of them, in fact, have taken over. The connection between Esther, who is one of Anderson's caretakers, a scarred Russian refugee, a woman of great intelligence and compassion, and Schmidt, a detective, is developed slowly and subtly, but with great effect.

And finally, Franklin does a masterful job of capturing what it was like to live in Berlin in the time of the worst inflation, and then the ever tightening stranglehold of National Socialism under Hitler.

This is not a short book, and it is not rushed. There were times when I wished she would move forward more quickly, but I couldn't make myself skip -- which is really high praise from me. ...more

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Jul 27, 2017 Nancy rated it really liked it

Shelves: mysteries, historical-fiction

Germany between the world wars was a volatile place: extreme inflation, food shortages and unemployment in the 1920s led to political upheaval, violence and the rise of Hitler's Nazis in the 1930s. Added to the chaos was an influx of refugees from Bolshevik Russia. One of these emigres was Anna Anderson who claimed to be Anastasia, the youngest of the czar's daughters and the only surviver of the massacre of the royal family. Ariana Franklin uses the real-life Anna Anderson as a central characte ...more

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Jan 18, 2012 Cameron rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2012-reads

Before the event of DNA testing there was a woman who everyone had heard of. Whether you believed in her or not, people found her fascinating, this woman claimed to Anastasia the last living heir to the Russian throne, the daughter of the murdered Czar Nicholas II
In this fictional story is a young Jewess, a refugee in 1922 Berlin, this is Germany before Hitler. Because of the scar on her face Esther survives by being a secretary to Prince Nick as he is called who owns several cabarets in the ci ...more

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Feb 03, 2016 Abriggs rated it it was amazing

What an exhilarating ride full of twists and turns! Now that my heart has stopped racing all I feel is sadness........sadness that I have no more Ariana Franklin novels to devour. She is one of my all time favorite authors and I have loved all of her novels written under this pseudonym.

She has painted a vivid picture of Berlin during this turbulent time in its history. We see the seedier side that flourished in the years following WWI while most of the city was living in starvation and squalor. ...more

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Jul 13, 2011 Shelli rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-in-2011

Another great book by this author! It was interesting right from the start and I enjoyed the entire book. A mystery thriller, but also historical fiction. I learned quite a bit from this book, as I had to google a bunch of things to refresh my memory of the actual events. Set in Berlin in post WW1...when Hitler is just beginning to gain popularity. Another look at what happened to the German citizens and leading up to the inevitable horror of the Halocaust. Strong characters and a great storylin ...more

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Jul 04, 2014 Hilari Bell rated it it was amazing

I read this book because I love the Mistress of the Art of Death series so much—and even though City of Shadows, set in 1920s and 1930s Berlin, has no connection to Franklin’s other books it’s excellent too. Regardless of the period, Franklin writes great, appealing characters with depth and humor. The mystery plot, which centers around Anna Anderson, who passed herself off as Anastasia, is a fine one—but this book also reminded me that the best books usually do more than one thing. The backdrop ...more

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Sep 18, 2011 Carmen rated it really liked it

Shelves: mystery-and-thrillers

A young woman is killed. But she ends up being just the first in a string of murders. This is set in Berlin during the 1920's and 30's. A time when normalcy is thrown out the window as money spirals downwards and people are literally starving. To save the day Hitler comes in on a white horse. Or so it seems to many but not to all. Esther is a fascinating, multi-dimensional character who has a secret. Schmidt is a loyal moral man who does not cope well with what is happening in his city. Anna is ...more

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Apr 28, 2014 Linda rated it really liked it

Four stars because it was a little long for my taste. Otherwise a first class compilation. Set in pre WWII Berlin the author exposes the methodical rise to power of Adolf Hitler. I came to see how the struggles of the German people against out of control inflation, created the desperation which made them turn to anyone who promised to lift them out of the poverty and hunger that prevailed. Murder, conspiracy, romance, anti-semitism, integrity and redemption are all here. Quite a line up. S Heart ...more

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Sep 05, 2009 Diana Sandberg rated it liked it

Good, not great. I liked the second half better than the first, which dragged a bit. I had some trouble with Franklin's choice of voices. This is always difficult when attempting to indicate class/education with language when the language spoken is not the one being read. Slangy English does not really convey slangy, lower class German, at least not without a conscious adjustment on the part of the reader. I did like Inspector Schmidt and I did like the nice little twist at the end, although I h ...more

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May 21, 2015 Darcy Gregg rated it it was amazing

A very enjoyable read. I'd give it 4.5 stars if I could, as I couldn't put it down for the last 1/3. It had a good hook and kept me reading, enjoyable and believeable characters. I even went on line and googled some things. I also watched a travel show on Berlin so I could get better pictures in my head. I would now like to visit there, so it's good it sparked an interest and left me wanting to know more about history. The book's ending left you feeling good and I didn't expect that when it was ...more

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Jul 26, 2011 Danielle rated it it was amazing

If I ever write a novel, this is how I would want it to turn out. It's a great mystery with twists and turns, but even better, it weaves in some serious world history in an insightful but not heavy-handed way - the Russian Revolution, the fall of the Romanovs, the Anastasia mystery, World War I, the Weimar Republic, and the rise of Hitler. It's incredibly atmospheric with fascinating, multi-dimensional characters whose lives are anything but predictable. I can't recommend this book enough! ...more

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Aug 02, 2012 Margo rated it it was amazing

One of the best historical mysteries I've read. I was bowled over at the end! Love this author's other books in the Mistress of Death series too!
...more

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Feb 18, 2013 Jackie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Fantastic for anyone who likes history. The mystery line is great for those who like thrillers.

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About Ariana Franklin

Ariana Franklin

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Ariana Franklin was the pen name of British writer Diana Norman. A former journalist, Norman had written several critically acclaimed biographies and historical novels. She lived in Hertfordshire, England, with her husband, the film critic Barry Norman.

Note:
The Death Maze (UK) is published as The Serpent's Tale in the US.
Relics of the Dead (UK) is published as Grave Goods in the US.
The Assassin' ...more