The Pale Criminal

It is 1938 and Bernie Gunther is back on the mean streets of Berlin with his new partner, Bruno Stahlecker, another ex-police officer. But on a seemingly straightforward stakeout, Bruno is killed, and Bernie suddenly finds himself tapped for a much bigger job.

A serial sex murderer is killing Aryan teenage girls in Berlin - and what''s worse, he''s making utter fools of the police. Gunther is forced to accept a temporary post in Obergruppenfuehrer Reinhard Heydrich''s state Security Service, with a team of men underneath him tasked purely with hunting the killer.

But can he trust his team any more than he can trust his superiors?

An unflinching, fast-paced thriller exploring the grisly excesses of Nazi subculture, The Pale Criminal will be loved by fans of Robert Harris and Frederick Forsythe.

''For Christmas, I would like all of Philip Kerr''s Berlin Noir novels.'' Sam Mendes, Guardian

''Blends high-powered storytelling with a rich piece of historical re-creation'' Independent

''Kerr makes his star turns - Heydrich, Himmler, et al - eerily believable'' The Times

''Powerful period flavour; a gruff, subversive hero; Kerr delivers the good'' Literary Review

''Echoes of Raymond Chandler . . . vivid and well-researched'' Evening Standard