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The Pale Criminal by Philip Kerr (Bernie Gunther #2) (Nov/Dec 25)
By Susan · 17 posts · 15 views
By Susan · 17 posts · 15 views
last updated 12 hours, 9 min ago
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The Pale Criminal - SPOILER Thread - (Bernie Gunther #2) (Nov/Dec 25)
By Susan · 7 posts · 8 views
By Susan · 7 posts · 8 views
last updated Nov 30, 2025 03:43AM
What Members Thought
This is the second of the original Bernie Gunther trilogy, set in 1938. Bernie begins in his previous job as a private investigator, looking into a case of blackmail. Before long though, he finds himself back in Kripo, attempting to discover who is responsible for the murder of young, Aryan girls, being snatched from the streets of Berlin.
This novel has several real-life characters, such as Heydrich and Himmler, as Bernie negotiates the new Germany he has found himself in. As the two sub-plots c ...more
This novel has several real-life characters, such as Heydrich and Himmler, as Bernie negotiates the new Germany he has found himself in. As the two sub-plots c ...more
This is better. Most of the ridiculous snark and hack-work of the first volume is missing, and so this is a fairly standard, if somewhat contrived police procedure — with a little spice of sex, murder, and mayhem thrown in for commercial purposes. There is nothing here as serious as the end of the first volume, but it is overall better, and so the two balance out. Dashiell Hammett, however, it ain’t.
Quite a lot of violence, from both sides, but the atmosphere seems very true to the time and setting. Excellent plot. Bernie is a good man with faults.
Jul 20, 2008
Nancy Oakes
marked it as to-read
Apr 08, 2014
Kerstin
marked it as to-read
Jul 06, 2014
Gary Vassallo
marked it as ebook-library
Dec 03, 2016
Laurel
marked it as to-read
Jan 05, 2022
Wayne Jordaan
marked it as to-read
Jun 04, 2025
Mike Penlington
marked it as to-read
