2008-09-03 A brilliant read

The latest Philip Kerr novel seems once again to have slipped in under the radar. He really has made the whole Nazi period his own - concentrating not just on the obvious war years, but what happened both before Hitler came to power - and what happened to Nazis after 1945. A Quiet Flame is skilfully done - weaving 1950's Buenos Aires with an unsolved murder from Berlin in 1932 almost seamlessly.

And at the heart of the story once again is Bernie Gunther - this time under a new guise and living in South America - but up against old adversaries and uncovering murky secrets from the past. Kerr breaths life convincingly into his characters and settings - and the history is seriously well done, but worn lightly, so it doesn't get in the way of a rattling good story.

What else is there to add, other than here's hoping for more. This latest batch of Gunther stories is as good as - if not better - than the original Berlin Noir trilogy, and that's saying something.