The One from the Other

The One from the Other by Philip Kerr

Before I had ever picked up one of Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther books, I had read and enjoyed all of his stand-alone books. It's probably a good thing it happened that way. The first three books featuring the acerbic private investigator Bernie Gunther were interesting, but not that entertaining. If I had started with them, I probably would have quite reading Kerr awhile ago.

It'd been fifteen years since the last Gunther book by the time The One from the Other came out and I think the hiatus was good for the series. This one is noticeably better and I enjoyed it much more. There are four more books already published, and another set for 2013 and thanks to this one, I'm looking forward to reading each of them. I've also heard that Tom Hanks has been trying to acquire the rights to the books for an HBO series.

This one begins in Germany in 1949 and finds Bernie a broken and defeated man. His wife has been hospitalized following a nervous breakdown and Bernie has given up the PI business to run his late-father-in-law's hotel in Dachau. One night two America officers stop by the hotel and and set off a series of events that bring Gunther back to his old self.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆