Crime Fiction from Germany

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John Le Carré (2005) The Spy Who Came in From the Cold.

In Le Carré's first masterpiece Alec Leamas, a British agent in early Cold War Berlin, is responsible for keeping the double agents under his care undercover and alive. When the East Germans start killing them, Leamas is sent deep into Communist territory to find out why. But nothing is quite what it seems. "The finest spy story ever written" (Graham Green).

Ken Follett (2004) Eye of the Needle.

During World War II, The Needle, a ruthless German spy, a young Englishwoman and an investigator are linked together in a breathtaking tale of espionage. This superb thriller is one of the best spy novels ever written.

Eric Ambler (2002) Journey Into Fear.

Mr. Graham, a naval ordnance engineer for an English armament manufacturer is assisting Turkey during WWII to modernize their navy, when he finds himself the object of an assassination plot headed up by a German agent named Moeller. Graham, an ordinary fellow, outwitts the professional killers.

Markus Zusak (2006) The Book Thief.

You may be put off reading this exceptional book because Death himself tells the story. But as a narrator, Death is all but frightening. In a sardonic but gentle tone, with great humor, Death conveys the life of Liesel Meminger, a child of 9 years, living in a foster family with her sarcastic step mother and loving step father. Set in Nazi Germany Liesel is saved by the books she is stealing - and, ultimately, by the one she is writing herself.

Robert Irwin (2003) Exquisite Corpse.

In this psychological drama mediocre surrealist painter Caspar falls in love with Caroline, a rather ordinary secretary. When she suddenly vanishes, Caspar is devastated. At the brink of World War II his search for her leads him to a mental hospital in Nazi Germany. Clever thrill with a fine ironic touch.

Robert Ludlum (2007) The Scarlatti Inheritance.

The mother-son drama at the time of Nazi Germany is Ludlum's first thriller.

Robert Wilson (2002) A Small Death in Lisbon.

In 1941, a tough but likeable German businessman, Klaus Felsen, is persuaded by the Gestapo to go to Portugal and seize a large amount of tungsten, vital to the Nazi war effort. In 1999 Catarina Oliviera, daughter of a prominent lawyer, has been found brutally murdered Lisbon and Ze Coehlo, a liberal police inspector is investigating the disgusting circumstances of her death. The two story lines merge in a surprising climax.

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