Germany Before Hitler

[redstar2000]

Straight into Darkness, a novel by Faye Kellerman, Warner Books, 2005, ISBN #0-446-53040-9
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This is a "murder mystery" set in Munich in 1929. It's certainly one of the grimmest novels I've ever read...the hunt for a serial killer at the very time when the shadows of the future Third Reich are gathering.

The viciousness of "ordinary" anti-semitism is vividly described...based on the author's interviews with a tiny number of people who actually lived in that era.

I know that the folks who like mystery novels usually say that they enjoy trying to "figure out whodunnit" before the killer is revealed.

But I like them because, if well done, they serve as astonishingly revealing portraits of the cultural atmosphere of particular eras.

How did it really feel to live in Munich in 1929? Straight into Darkness will, I think, give you a pretty good idea.

Very grim.

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[Janus]

If they wanted to find a true serial killer (though he didn't personally murder all his enemies), all they had to do was look for a certain Austrian named Adolf who was a Nazi leader in Munich at this time.

[redstar2000]

Both Hitler and a prominent member of his entourage are briefly suspected of being the killer. :)

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[Janus]

Wow, I haven't even read the book and I accidentally guessed part of the plot. :o
So, I don't think that Hitler is actually tried for killing this individual. :lol: Nor will he ever be tried for killing anyone for that matter.