A Quiet Flame

by Philip Kerr
386 pgs  (Bernie Gunther series #5)

A Quiet Flame is the fifth book in Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther series, a series I started reading 11 years ago, but one that for some reason, I've allowed six years to pass since I last read a book in it. It features Bernie Gunther, a German police detective and current private investigator, who served as an SS Officer in Dachau during WWII. He's led a complicated life, due in part to his sympathies for the Jews and his opposition to the Nazi party, even while he served as an officer in it.

As the book begins, Bernie leaves Germany for Argentina in 1950, where he's seeking exile from his home country. But it doesn't take long for his past to begin playing a role in his present once again. His reputation as one of the best homicide detectives in Germany becomes known to the authorities in Buenos Aires, and he soon finds himself recruited to help in the investigation of the murder of a 15-year-old girl. The murder bears a striking resemblance to two unsolved murders Bernie investigated in Berlin back in 1932. So, Bernie begins investigating other Germans now living in Argentina, specifically, those who played an active role in the atrocities of the War.

Bernie's investigation uncovers dark secrets in Argentina, and not just those being hidden by the former Nazi officers who fled there. High-ranking officials in Argentina also have secrets they're willing to kill to protect, and Bernie's investigation threatens them.

A Quiet Flame is another solid book in the series. It was a good reminder to me of why I started reading the series in the first place, and it also encouraged me to read the next book, sooner rather than later.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆