Death in Berlin in Retro Reads

Jan 02, 2015 Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ rated it liked it

Shelves: dated-social-attitudes, suspense, mystery

I have a soft spot in my heart for all things Germany-related, and this 1955 murder mystery by M.M. Kaye, set in post-WWII Berlin, has its charms and a nicely authentic feel to the setting. But reading this book was kind of like an old-timey train ride ... in fact, the kind this novel actually starts out with.

The train (book) has some reasonably comfortable sleeping compartments, and attendants who direct you when you're feeling a bit lost. The food's a little old-fashioned, but fairly tasty. T I have a soft spot in my heart for all things Germany-related, and this 1955 murder mystery by M.M. Kaye, set in post-WWII Berlin, has its charms and a nicely authentic feel to the setting. But reading this book was kind of like an old-timey train ride ... in fact, the kind this novel actually starts out with.

The train (book) has some reasonably comfortable sleeping compartments, and attendants who direct you when you're feeling a bit lost. The food's a little old-fashioned, but fairly tasty. There are a few odd people in the passenger cars, but you're not too worried about them because your main group of friends on this ride is pleasant, if rather bland. It's really too bad that there's a murderer in this group, but you think you've figured out who it is, so you feel relatively safe as long as you keep your eye on this person, if disinclined to take solitary excursions to dark sections of the train.

The train is chugging along nicely, but then, when you're only thirty miles (pages) from your final destination, the engine starts to make strange noises. A wheel comes off, then another. The entire train derails and several sections tip over sideways. Men bluster; women have hysterics, or faint. Somewhere a shot rings out. A lone wolf howls. Unexpectedly, an 18-wheeler semitrailer truck crashes into the middle of the train! (view spoiler) A guy leaps out of the truck, grabs a random passenger from the train and kisses her passionately. (view spoiler) The curtain crashes down.

The End.

So, that's the story of my train ride through Germany.

I might, hypothetically, be a bit bitter because I didn't guess the murderer right. (view spoiler) All I can say is, most of my irritation is because I thought the final explanation was way too implausible, and the romance was severely underbaked.

M.M. Kaye wrote six "Death in ..." murder mystery novels, each with a side helping of romance. This one in post-war Berlin wasn't my favorite, but it had its moments, and readers who like old-fashioned mysteries with a dash of retro romance (the kind with bossy alpha males) will probably enjoy it. My favorite of the six: Death in Kashmir. ...more

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Aug 22, 2023 mark monday rated it liked it

Shelves: murdertime, to-die-for

M.M. Kaye could conjure atmosphere out anywhere, just give her a setting where she had some personal experience. it really was a gift, that ability to channel her memories and experiences into creating a totally real and immersive setting, while also making sure that that setting is, at different times, intriguingly foreign or weird, unnerving. one would think that post-war Berlin would be bereft of "atmosphere" and instead come across as gray, dull, depressing. not the case here! the military h ...more

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Jun 25, 2009 Hannah rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: re-read, mysteries, 2011-reads, 2014-reads

Buddy read with Diane Lynn & Jeannette

My re-read of the last of M.M. Kaye's 6 book "Death in..." murder mystery series, and very enjoyable even though post WWII Berlin, Germany isn't the exotic locale Kaye was famous for using in her 5 other whodunits. That being said, I very much liked the change in setting. Kaye easily conjured up the sights, colors and smells of the allied occupied capital in the years following WWII. In her hands, the hopeful optimism of the city years before the rising of t ...more

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Sep 11, 2014 Diane Lynn rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: suspense, mystery, brunsco, germany

Buddy read with Jeannette and Hannah

Another really good mystery by MM Kaye. This one set in Berlin, Germany in 1953. Kaye did a very good job of describing the bombed out buildings, the piles of rubble that had already been grassed over into ski hills, bullet riddled statues and the different sectors. She was living there at the time so her descriptions have that ring of authenticity.

There is a large cast of suspects and more than one mystery to be solved. I certainly didn't figure everything ou ...more

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Feb 13, 2020 Barb in Maryland rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-thriller-goodies, historical-fiction

Read with the Retro Reads group. I thought I had read this when it was reprinted in the '80s, but I somehow missed it.
Originally published in 1955 the story has aged fairly well. The descriptions of post-war Berlin are fascinating--the mix of still-standing ruins and gleaming new construction, the new memorials (especially by the Soviets) that replace the destroyed Nazi ones; all serve to set the story firmly in its time and place.
I liked our young heroine, Miranda Brand, even though she always ...more

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Apr 24, 2017 Jodi rated it liked it

I read this because someone claimed that the author was similar to Mary Stewart but she was not. It was an okay story.

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Jul 13, 2013 Lynnie rated it liked it

Shelves: read-in-1980s, adventures-abroad, mystery-suspense, read-in-2023

I first read this in the late 80's and seem to remember that it wasn't my favourite of the "Death in..." series.

This was more like an Agatha Christie whodunit with 11 suspects. Kaye did keep me guessing and there were some good twists and red herrings though I didn't warm to the plucky heroine who wasn't very plucky.

I found that the descriptions of post war Berlin were interesting.

...more

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Apr 06, 2014 Jenn Estepp rated it liked it

Shelves: sleuths-and-gumshoes, comfort-food, libraries-are-great, historically-speaking, pandemic-and-aftermath

Just re-read this, as I've decided to work my way through the Kaye's. But, I only know it was a re-read because it's already shelved here on Goodreads. I've no memory at all of the first time around and there wasn't any spark of recognition as I made my way through it now. Which, perhaps, isn't the best sign for the book, overall. But I enjoyed it, even if I might not remember it. ...more

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