My brother is a great fan of political spy mysteries. Decades ago he told me about John Le Carre, for instance. The books need to be intelligent, realistic, and yet still thrilling. Even better, they need to be historically accurate.

So when he suggested Prague Fatale by Philip Kerr, I had to give it a try. I’m glad I did, though of course it’s not anywhere near as good as a Le Carre book!

The setting is Berlin and Prague, 1940, as the Nazi’s are seeing signs of vulnerability and the “final solution” is kicking into high speed. Bernie Gunther is a disillusioned police detective called in to help a notorious SS officer find a killer. He meets a girl, they fall in love, the SS guys are nasty brutes, and who the hell cares if an SS officer is murdered? But there is more than meets the eye, of course, and suddenly you don’t know who to believe or trust. It truly becomes a mystery, and one that is wrapped into another mystery.

It’s a good story, great dialogue, and well developed characters. Usually anything with Nazi’s in the book can make them look like efficient cartoon characters. But Kerr goes beyond that and it’s a very human look at evil in the midst of the tension.

I liked this book. I didn’t love it, and I doubt I’ll read more of the series, but this is still a good read.