A review by rosseroo
A German Requiem by Philip Kerr

5.0

The final book in Kerr's original "Berline Noir" trilogy is set in 1947, some nine years and one World War after our last encounter with private eye Bernie Gunther. The change is dramatic, as Gunther ekes out a living after surviving the war, including a stint on the Eastern Front. The formerly middle-class Gunther lives as most Berliners do, in hard times and in constant fear of the rapacious "Ivans." In this sad time Gunther must face the passability that his wife is prostituting herself in order to put food on the table, and that his country as a whole is doing much the same. He becomes embroiled in a mystery that takes him to Vienna, a city where Cold War spying is being born. The story gets quite hard to follow, but is certainly worth it--especially if you watch the classic film noir, The Third Man, before reading this book.