Bernard Gunther Books In Order

Publication Order of Bernie Gunther Books

Born in 1956 in Edinburg, Philip Kerr is a distinguished author who has had a decorated career. He studied law at the University of Birmingham where he went on to be conferred with a degree in law and philosophy. He took a short stint as an advertising copywriter with Saatchi and Saatchi before settling down to full-time writing. He has done about 20 fictional and nonfictional books. Furthermore, he has written various newspaper columns such as Evening Standard and The Sunday Times among others. Bernard Gunther (Series by Philip Kerr) makes crowns it all.

Philip Kerr has also written children’s books. He currently resides in Wimbledon, London with his wife, a novelist and their two sons. He has won multiple awards including the British Crime Writers’ Association Ellis Peters Historical Fiction Award. His name has also shown on the most promising and Best Young British Novelists.

March Violets is a landmark detective novel written by Philip Kerr. It features Bernie who is the lead investigator. The scene is set in Germany. Philip develops a view whereby there is a crime. It is heinous, and it gets to a dangerous degree when Paul Pfarr and his wife are killed. In the event, their house is torched and reduced to ashes. Also, in the event, Paul Pfarr’s wife who happens to be Hermann Six’s daughter, a tycoon industrialist loses her necklace from her Grete house. In a bid to unravel the main suspects behind the whole act, Hermann Six hires Bernhard Günther, an elite detective.

Günther creatively uses informants to get to the ground of the matter and bring out the dark shades of the architecture to light. He establishes that Paul Pfarr has been working to end corruption in the government. He also uncovers the dealings between Hermann’s private secretary and Kurt Jeschonneck, who is a not so straightforward diamond dealer. His investigation revolves around Von Greis. He is an aristocrat who is busy gathering materials for famous people to be used by, Goering. In the act, a romantic affair sparks between Günther and Inge Lorenz. She then becomes his assistant. She manages to uncover Kurt Mustchmann, who allegedly broke Pfarr’s safe.

The investigation is thoroughly conducted until they manage to find Von Greis mutilated body. Furthermore, they know that Mutschmann is behind the robbery, and he is the German face Strength, a crime association. The book becomes, even more, interesting and grabs your attention when Günter comes across Marlene Sahm, a close aide of Paul at Reich Sports Field. Günter finds out that Hermann was a corrupt individual and was about to summon him. He manages this by trying to coerce Von Greis to drop all the evidence about Hermann’s dealings. Von Greis is adamant to accept the request that calls for Gestapo to try to find the documents from Von Greis instead. Von Greis’s lack of commitment is actually what leads to his murder by Red Dieter.

In a bid to get more information, Günter proceeds to Hermann’s estate. While Hermann tries to bribe him to drop the case, he bitterly confronts him with evidence. As the confrontation goes on, Günter realizes that the lady in Haupthändler’s beach home was the daughter of Hermann and not Paul’s sweetheart. It then turns out that Grete Pfarr together with Haupthändler was behind Paul’s murder. They also made away with the diamond necklace to find some money for an escape while they subsequently torched the house. By the time. The safe was already devoid of any papers, and the loss of the necklace had damaged Red Dieter’s reputation with Herman, his employer. Having realized these tons of information, Günter and Hermann take a motor boat to the German Strength Ring headquarters. It is at the headquarters that they find Grete. While the encounter becomes hot and Günther tries to escape with Grete, she is unfortunately found by a stray bullet that kills her.

The second book in the Berlin Noir, Philip Kerr’s trilogy is The Pale Criminal. Philip again shows his sharp skills and unmatched experiences as he breaks bits of the book. He manages to create mental pictures that are very possessive and creates an everlasting impression as he always does it. In the book set in Germany, Günter picks Bruno Stahlecker, another elite detective, and partners with him. They then go on to analyze a case whereby a Frau Lange, a proprietor of a renown publishing firm is being blackmailed for files of homosexual love pieces of literature Reinhardt sent to Dr. Kindermann, his psychotherapist. The two detectives find out Klaus Hering as the main guy behind the blackmail. He is Dr. Kindermann’s disgruntled employee. During an investigation at Hering’s residence, Bruno is killed. Shortly after, Hering is found dead in the apartment. Soon after, Arthur and Reinhard summons Günther to the Gestapo offices. Günther is made to look for the serial killer who is going about occasioning killings of blond and blue-eyed young ladies in Berlin and giving the police a difficult time. Günther assumes the position of Kriminalkommissar working with other officers to get to the bottom of the reported spree of killings.

Günther is largely unsuccessful in his attempts. Joseph Kahn, a Jew who is suspected is found to be unlikely. Similarly, Gottfried Bautz is let go after the revelation from an anonymous caller about the location of another target while in custody. The investigators travel to Nuremberg to investigate Julius Streicher, who is suspected for the imagery in Der Sturmer, his newspaper that relates to the killings. At this point, the team begins to look into Emmeline Steiniger, another victim. Soon after, Lisa disappears. An anonymous call helps them find her body two weeks later. Ganz’s parents are uncooperative, and they reveal that Rolf, a private detective is helping them. Luckily, Günther is aware that Lange’s publishing house bankrolls him. Günther and Hildegard discover that Dr. Otto Rahn is an SS.

By attending a séance at Karl Maria Weisthor, Günther, and Steiniger, they spy on Kinderman, Weisthor, and Rahn. The shocking discovery is that the ridiculous gathering is meant to influence Himmler for political reasons. There is a bid to create rivalry and violence against the Jews leading to killings. There are also letters that sum the confirmation of the plans as Weisthor and Project krist mentions. It involves members of the SS. The planning happens in a Castle in Wewelsburg.

Two weeks later, Emmeline’s body is found. The truth comes out that Kindermann and Rahn are the architects of the killings by building on the belief of bereaved parents in the occultist séances of Wiesthor. Günther takes Lange to Dr. Kindermann’s health center and while there, he finds files that bear evidence. Inge’s file gets found. In a quick twist, Kinderman reappears and in a fight, Lange dies. Günther turns to Kindermann, and he becomes unconscious. Günther drives Kindermann towards the Court of Honor. On the way, Kindermann regains consciousness and tells of how Inge died of overdosing while undergoing treatment in his clinic. It is after this that he is killed. Günther then proceeds on to reveal the whole plans to Heydrich incriminating Rahn and Weisthor. In the end, Himmler takes a step to rally on peace after an eruption against Günther.

You will not move from your seat for that glass of wine or a pint of water after you set your hands on Philip Herr’s books. His narration will seize you and own your attention. The series is worth your time. It will thoroughly entertain and absorb you into the world of investigative works. Stocking it in your home library is worth.