Philip Kerr – författare

'One of the greatest anti-heroes ever written' LEE CHILD'A man doesn't work for his enemies unless he has little choice in the matter.' So says Bernie Gunther. It is 1954 and Bernie is in Cuba. Tiring of his increasingly dangerous work spying on Meyer Lansky, Bernie acquires a boat and a beautiful companion and quits the island. But the US Navy has other ideas, and soon he finds himself in a place with which he is all too familiar - a prison cell. After exhaustive questioning, he is flown back to Berlin and yet another prison cell with a proposition: work for French intelligence or hang for murder. The job is simple: he is to meet and greet POWs returning to Germany and to look out for one in particular, a French war criminal and member of the French SS who has been posing as a German Wehrmacht officer. The French are anxious to catch up with this man and deal with him in their own ruthless way. But Bernie's past as a German POW in Russia is about to catch up with him - in a way he could never have foreseen. Bernie Gunther's seventh outing delivers more of the fast-paced and quick-witted action that we have come to expect from Philip Kerr. Set in Cuba, a Soviet POW camp, Paris and Berlin, and ranging over a period of twenty years from the Thirties to the Fifties, Field Grey is an outstanding thriller by a writer at the top of his game.

'One of the greatest anti-heroes ever written' LEE CHILDBernie Gunther has learned the hard way that there's no way to distinguish 'the one from the other'. The cynical P.I. has the moral clarity to see through the deceit and hypocrisy of both friend and foe - a lifesaving skill in the dangerous years of postwar Germany.Munich, 1949: Amid the chaos of defeat, it's home to all the backstabbing intrigue that prospers in the aftermath of war. A place where a private eye can find a lot of not-quite-reputable work: cleaning up the Nazi past of well-to-do locals, abetting fugitives in the flight abroad, sorting out rival claims to stolen goods. It's work that fills Bernie with disgust - but it also fills his sorely depleted wallet. Then a woman seeks him out. Her husband has disappeared. She's not looking to get him back - he's a wanted man who ran one of the most vicious concentration camps in Poland. She just wants confirmation that he's dead. It's a simple enough job. But in post-war Germany, nothing is simple...

'One of the greatest anti-heroes ever written' LEE CHILDPosing as an escaping Nazi war-criminal Bernie Gunther arrives in Buenos Aires and, having revealed his real identity to the local chief of police, discovers that his reputation as a detective goes before him. A young girl has been murdered in peculiarly gruesome circumstances that strongly resemble Bernie's final case as a homicide detective with the Berlin police. A case he had failed to solve. Circumstances lead the chief of police in Buenos Aires to suppose that the murderer may be one of several thousand ex Nazis who have fetched up in Argentina since 1945. And, therefore, who better than Bernie Gunther to help him track that murderer down?

From the award-winning crime thriller writer, dive into the first three novels of iconic detective Bernie Gunther series, perfect for fans of Robert Harris and Frederick Forsythe.SOON TO BE AN APPLE TV+ SERIES FEATURING COLIN FIRTH AND JACK LOWDEN‘The contemporary master of the morally complex thriller' New York Observer'One of the greatest anti-heroes ever written' Lee Child'[Philip Kerr's] Bernie Gunther novels are extraordinary' Ian RankinMARCH VIOLETSWinter, 1936. Specializing in missing persons cases, private eye and former cop Bernhard Gunther is never short of work in Hitler’s Berlin.When a man and his wife are shot dead in their bed, and their home burned, the woman's millionaire father wants justice - and the priceless diamonds that disappeared along with his daughter's life. Desperate for answers, he turns to Bernhard Gunther for help.As Bernie follows the trail into the very heart of Nazi Germany, he's forced to confront a horrifying conspiracy. A trail that ends in the hell that is Dachau . . .THE PALE CRIMINALIt's 1938 and detective Bernie Gunther is back on the mean streets of Berlin with his new partner, ex-police officer Bruno Stahlecker. But on a seemingly straightforward stakeout, Bruno is killed, and Bernie suddenly finds himself tapped for a much bigger job.A serial killer is murdering Aryan teenage girls in Berlin - and what's worse, he's making utter fools of the police.When the head of the state Security Service, Reinhard Heydrich, asks Bernie to rejoin the Berlin police force, he is forced to accept, working with a team of men underneath him tasked purely with hunting the killer.But can he trust his team any more than he can trust his superiors?A GERMAN REQUIEMIn the bitter winter of 1947 the Russian Zone is closing ever more tightly around Berlin.When an enigmatic Russian colonel asks Bernie Gunther to go to Vienna, where his ex-Kripo colleague Emil Becker faces a murder charge, Bernie doesn't hesitate for long. Gunther is convinced that shooting an American Nazi-hunter is one crime he didn't commit.But Vienna is not the peaceful haven Bernie expects it to be. Communism is the new enemy, and with the Nuremberg trials over, some strange alliances are being forged against the Red Menace - alignments that make many wartime atrocities look lily-white by comparison.

Discover the first crime novel in the late Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther series - Berlin Noir - set in Hitler's Germany during the 1930s . . . Winter, 1936. A man and his wife shot dead in their bed, their home burned. The woman's father, a millionaire industrialist, wants justice - and the priceless diamonds that disappeared along with his daughter's life. He turns to Bernhard Gunther, a private eye and former cop.As Bernie follows the trail into the very heart of Nazi Germany, he's forced to confront a horrifying conspiracy. A trail that ends in the hell that is Dachau . . .Stylishly written and powerfully evocative, Kerr's crime classic transports readers to the rotten heart of Nazi Berlin, and introduces a private eye in the great tradition of Hammett and Chandler.'Wonderfully sharp and satirical' Times'An impressive debut' Guardian'Fast-paced, laconic, unpredictable, and witty' Evening Standard'For Christmas, I would like all of Philip Kerr's Berlin Noir novels' Sam Mendes, Guardian

The second in the late Philip Kerr's iconic 'Berlin Noir' trilogy, The Pale Criminal sees detective Bernie Gunther return to hunt one of the most evil killers in human history. It is 1938 and Bernie Gunther is back on the mean streets of Berlin with his new partner, Bruno Stahlecker, another ex-police officer. But on a seemingly straightforward stakeout, Bruno is killed, and Bernie suddenly finds himself tapped for a much bigger job. A serial sex murderer is killing Aryan teenage girls in Berlin - and what's worse, he's making utter fools of the police. Gunther is forced to accept a temporary post in Obergruppenfuehrer Reinhard Heydrich's state Security Service, with a team of men underneath him tasked purely with hunting the killer. But can he trust his team any more than he can trust his superiors?An unflinching, fast-paced thriller exploring the grisly excesses of Nazi subculture, The Pale Criminal will be loved by fans of Robert Harris and Frederick Forsythe.'For Christmas, I would like all of Philip Kerr's Berlin Noir novels.' Sam Mendes, Guardian'Blends high-powered storytelling with a rich piece of historical re-creation' Independent 'Kerr makes his star turns - Heydrich, Himmler, et al - eerily believable' The Times 'Powerful period flavour; a gruff, subversive hero; Kerr delivers the good' Literary Review'Echoes of Raymond Chandler . . . vivid and well-researched' Evening Standard

The third in the late Philip Kerr's universally acclaimed Berlin Noir trilogy, A German Requiem sees detective Bernie Gunther enter the new and terrifying world of post-war Vienna. In the bitter winter of 1947 the Russian Zone is closing ever more tightly around Berlin. So when an enigmatic Russian colonel asks Bernie Gunther to go to Vienna, where his ex-Kripo colleague Emil Becker faces a murder charge, Bernie doesn't hesitate for long. Despite Becker's unsavoury past, Gunther is convinced that shooting an American Nazi-hunter is one crime he didn't commit.But Vienna is not the peaceful haven Bernie expects it to be. Communism is the new enemy, and with the Nuremberg trials over, some strange alliances are being forged against the Red Menace - alignments that make many wartime atrocities look lily-white by comparison.Vividly evoking the atmosphere of postwar Vienna, A Germen Requiem brings all Philip Kerr's pace and mordant wit to the tangle of guilt, suspicion, and double-dealing that laid the foundations for the Cold War.'For Christmas, I would like all of Philip Kerr's Berlin Noir novels' Sam Mendes, Guardian'Philip Kerr is the contemporary master of the morally complex thriller' New York Observer

I swore not to tell this story while Newton was still alive.1696, young Christopher Ellis is sent to the Tower of London, but not as a prisoner. Though Ellis is notoriously hotheaded and was caught fighting an illegal duel, he arrives at the Tower as assistant to the renowned scientist Sir Isaac Newton. Newton is Warden of the Royal Mint, which resides within the Tower walls, and he has accepted an appointment from the King of England and Parliament to investigate and prosecute counterfeiters whose false coins threaten to bring down the shaky, war-weakened economy. Ellis may lack Newton’s scholarly mind, but he is quick with a pistol and proves himself to be an invaluable sidekick and devoted apprentice to Newton as they zealously pursue these criminals.While Newton and Ellis investigate a counterfeiting ring, they come upon a mysterious coded message on the body of a man killed in the Lion Tower, as well as alchemical symbols that indicate this was more than just a random murder. Despite Newton’s formidable intellect, he is unable to decipher the cryptic message or any of the others he and Ellis find as the body count increases within the Tower complex. As they are drawn into a wild pursuit of the counterfeiters that takes them from the madhouse of Bedlam to the squalid confines of Newgate prison and back to the Tower itself, Newton and Ellis discover that the counterfeiting is only a small part of a larger, more dangerous plot, one that reaches to the highest echelons of power and nobility and threatens much more than the collapse of the economy. Dark Matter is the lastest masterwork of suspense from Philip Kerr, the internationally bestselling and brilliantly innovative thriller writer who has dazzled readers with his imaginative, fast-paced novels. Like An Instance of the Fingerpost, The Name of the Rose, and Kerr’s own Berlin Noir trilogy, Dark Matter is historical mystery at its finest, an extraordinary, suspense-filled journey through the shadowy streets and back alleys of London with the brilliant Newton and his faithful protégé. The haunted Tower with its bloody history is the perfect backdrop for this richly satisfying tale, one that introduces an engrossing mystery into the volatile mix of politics, science, and religion that characterized life in seventeenth-century London.From the Hardcover edition.

From Philip Kerr, the New York Times bestselling author of the Bernie Gunther novels, comes a breathtaking journey of survival in the dark days of WWII in Ukraine, a country that remains tumultuous today. This inspiring tale captures the power of the human spirit and is perfect for fans of The Book Thief, Milkweed, and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.It will soon be another cold winter in the Ukraine.  But it''s 1941, and things are different this year.  Max, the devoted caretaker of an animal preserve, must learn to live with the Nazis who have overtaken this precious land. He must also learn to keep secrets—for there is a girl, Kalinka, who is hiding in the park.Kalinka has lost her home, her family, her belongings—everything but her life.  Still, she has gained one small, precious gift: a relationship with the rare wild and wily Przewalski''s horses that wander the preserve. Aside from Max, these endangered animals are her only friends—until a Nazi campaign of extermination nearly wipes them out for good.Now Kalinka must set out on a treacherous journey across the frozen forest to save the only two surviving horses—and herself.

From the Hardcover edition.

Roald Dahl meets R. L. Stine in this spine-tingling and hilarious tale from a bestselling author.   Billy Shivers doesn’t have a lot of excitement in his life. He prefers to spend his days reading alone in the Hitchcock Public Library. So it is a bit out of character when he finds himself drawn to the Haunted House of Books, and a competition daring readers to survive an entire night inside.   The Haunted House of Books is a cross between a bookstore and a booby trap. It’s a creeky old mansion full of dark hallways and things that go bump in the night, and the store’s ill-tempered owner, Mr. Rapscallion, only adds to the mystery.   But the frights of the store itself are nothing compared to the stories it holds. These stories are so ghastly, so terrifying, so shocking that once you’ve read them, you’ll never be the same. Does Billy dare begin? Do you?

In this Edgar® Award-nominated novel in Philip Kerr’s New York Times bestselling series, former detective and unwilling SS officer Bernie Gunther is on the hunt for a beautiful femme fatale... Berlin, 1942. Three players take the stage. The first, a gorgeous actress—the rising star of a giant German film company controlled by the Propaganda Ministry. The second, the very clever, very dangerous Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels—a close confidant of Hitler, ambitious schemer, and flagrant libertine. Finally, there''s Bernie Gunther—a former Berlin homicide bull now forced to run errands at the Propaganda Minister’s command.When Goebbels tasks Bernie with finding the woman the press have dubbed “the German Garbo,” his errand takes him from Zurich to Zagreb to the killing fields of Croatia. It is there that Bernie finds himself in a world of mindless brutality where everyone has a hidden agenda—perfect territory for a true cynic whose instinct is to trust no one.

Acclaimed for his historical mysteries, the New York Times bestselling author of the Bernie Gunther series seamlessly shifts to a present-day setting in this intense psychological thriller.Gil Martins, an agent with the FBI’s Domestic Terrorism Unit in Houston, sees the violence wrought by extremists of all kinds. Gil has always been on the side of justice—until he learns something that shakes his faith in the system, in himself, and in God. Desperate, he prays, begging to know God is there. When a serial killer begins targeting the morally righteous at the same time that a number of secular icons come under attack, Gil realizes that his prayers are being answered in a most terrifying way.

When Bernie Gunther takes on a blackmail case and gets involved in the affairs of British spies, the former detective risks exposing his own dark past in this thrilling novel hailed by The New York Times Book Review as “one of Kerr’s best.”   Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, 1956. Having gone into hiding in the French Riviera, Bernie Gunther is working as a concierge at the Grand-Hôtel under a false name. His days and nights consist of maneuvering drunks to their rooms, shooing away prostitutes in search of trade, and answering the mindless questions posed by the absurdly rich guests—needless to say, he’s miserable. Now, the man who was once a homicide detective and unwilling SS officer in Hitler’s Third Reich is simply the person you turn to for touring tips or if you need a bridge partner. As it just so happens, a rich and famous writer needs someone to fill the fourth seat in a regular game at the Villa Mauresque. But Somerset Maugham wants Bernie to help him get out of a game far more dangerous than bridge. Maugham is being blackmailed—perhaps because of his unorthodox lifestyle, or perhaps because, once upon a time, Maugham worked for the British Secret Service...

When his cover is blown, former Berlin bull and unwilling SS officer Bernie Gunther must re-enter a cat-and-mouse game that continues to shadow his life a decade after Germany’s defeat in World War 2...   The French Riviera, 1956: Bernie’s old and dangerous adversary Erich Mielke, deputy head of the East German Stasi, has turned up in Nice—and he’s not on holiday. Mielke is calling in a debt and wants Bernie to travel to London to poison a female agent they’ve both had dealings with. But Bernie isn''t keen on assassinating anyone. In an attempt to dodge his Stasi handler—former Kripo comrade Friedrich Korsch—Bernie bolts for the German border. Traveling by night and hiding by day, he has plenty of time to recall the last case he and Korsch worked together... Obersalzberg, Germany, 1939: A low-level bureaucrat has been found dead at Hitler’s mountaintop retreat in Bavaria. Bernie and Korsch have one week to find the killer before the leader of the Third Reich arrives to celebrate his fiftieth birthday. Bernie knows it would mean disaster if Hitler discovers a shocking murder has been committed on the terrace of his own home. But Obersalzberg is also home to an elite Nazi community, meaning an even bigger disaster for Bernie if his investigation takes aim at one of the party’s higher-ups...1939 and 1956: two different eras about to converge in an explosion Bernie Gunther will never forget.

A vicious murder puts Bernie Gunther on the trail of World War 2 criminals in Greece in this riveting historical thriller in Philip Kerr''s New York Times bestselling series.Munich, 1956. Bernie Gunther has a new name, a chip on his shoulder, and a dead-end career when an old friend arrives to repay a debt and encourages "Christoph Ganz" to take a job as a claims adjuster in a major German insurance company with a client in Athens, Greece.Under the cover of his new identity, Bernie begins to investigate a claim by Siegfried Witzel, a brutish former Wehrmacht soldier who served in Greece during the war. Witzel''s claimed losses are large , and, even worse, they may be the stolen spoils of Greek Jews deported to Auschwitz. But when Bernie tries to confront Witzel, he finds that someone else has gotten to him first, leaving a corpse in his place.Enter Lieutenant Leventis, who recognizes in this case the highly grotesque style of a killer he investigated during the height of the war. Back then, a young Leventis suspected an S.S. officer whose connection to the German government made him untouchable. He''s kept that man''s name in his memory all these years, waiting for his second chance at justice...Working together, Leventis and Bernie hope to put their cases--new and old--to bed. But there''s a much more sinister truth to acknowledge: A killer has returned to Athens...one who may have never left.

New York Times-bestselling author Philip Kerr treats readers to his beloved hero''s origins, exploring Bernie Gunther''s first weeks on Berlin''s Murder Squad.A portrait of Bernie Gunther in his twenties: He''s young, but he''s seen four bloody years of trench warfare. And he''s not stupid. So when he receives a promotion and a ticket out of Vice squad, he knows he''s not really leaving behind the criminal gangs, the perverse sex clubs, and the laundry list of human corruption. It''s 1928 and Berlin is a city on the edge of chaos, where nothing is truly verboten. But soon a new wave of shockingly violent murders sweeps up society''s most vulnerable, prostitutes and wounded ex-soldiers begging on the streets.As Bernie Gunther sets out to make sense of multiple murders with different MOs in a city that knows no limits, he must face the fact that his own police HQ is not immune. The Nazi party has begun to inflitrate the Alex, Berlin''s central office, just as the shakey Weimar government makes a last, desperate attempt to control a nation edging toward to the Third Reich.It seems like the only escape for most Berliners is the theater and Bernie''s no exception. As he gets deeper into the city''s sordid underground network, he seeks comfort with a make-up artist who is every bit a match for his quick wit and increasingly sardonic view of the world. But even this space can''t remain untouched, not with this pervasive feeling that everything is for sale in Berlin if you''re man enough to kill for it.