The Hidden Storyteller

The Hidden Storyteller by Mandy Robotham is another great book by this author. I have read many of her books and love them all. The characters in the story are well developed and are very likeable. This is a different take from other historical fiction, as it is set after WWII. The author's writing is eloquent and descriptive and captures you from the very beginning and evokes many emotions and feelings for the characters. It was thought provoking and made me aware of how things after the war really were.

The story weaves together a murder mystery that brings a British journalist and a German police inspector together and the hardships in Germany at the time. It shows how brutalizing war is and how its effects last long after actual conflict is over.

This is a really great read and I would highly recommend it. Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for an advanced copy of this book.

Another war thriller from Mandy Robotham. As a regular reader I was pleased to pick
Up this new novel which was a nice change of pace from her last outing which was a bit lackluster.

The Hidden Storyteller by Mandy Robotham

The war is over, and Germany in ruins. Posted to an Allied-run Hamburg, reporter Georgie Young returns to the country she fled seven years prior – at the onset of the conflict – to find it unrecognisable.

Amidst the stark horrors of a bombed-out city crumbling under the weight of millions of displaced souls, she discovers pockets of warmth: a violinist playing amidst the wreckage, couples dancing in the streets, and a nation trying to make amends.

Joining forces with local detective Harri Schroder to catch a killer targeting women on the city’s streets, curiosity draws Georgie deep into the dark underbelly, and she soon discovers that darkest secrets of war did not die with Hitler…

I've read all books by this author and they get better as you go along. This is a totally engrossing read and I found myself almost unable to put it down and kept reading into the night !
Heart breaking and at times terrifying and on the edge of your seat reading.
Brilliant.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Avon for the advance copy of this novel, once again Mandy has chosen a setting which is emotive and compassionate tale. Based in the post war era full of characters who have, in different ways, survived the war years. As is usual with Mandy’s novel’s the characters come alive and the reader is able to live through the harrowing time when people were returning, seeking and trying to rebuild their lives. The central character, a British journalist has her own “emotional baggage” and a nose for a good story throws her lot in with a German policeman and together they try to solve a gruesome crime. Along with two other strong women (a waif and a translator searching for her sister) from Hamburg who have learned to rely on their own resilience to survive.
Much has been written about the war years, but this is different, this pulls together all that is happening in the post war years. Mandy’s characters are in need of being ‘build up’, and each needs the other as their lives become intertwined. As the reader becomes aware of the tensions between the British Army and the re-emerging German police force side by side with a nation struggling to find there way in the new post-Hitler era, there is hope shown in the impromptu violin solo, whose haunting sound among the wreckage inspires and the ‘pop-up’ dances in the streets, where young and the broken come together to seek fun.
Mandy Robotham is again the master storyteller bringing this story to life and airing the little shoots of hope like snowdrops appearing in the winter garden, encouraged to grow but often hampered by late winter frost… This is another must read, once started you won’t be able to put the book (or tablet) down.

An engrossing book. The author has brought post war hamburg to life and sustains a vivid description of the environment and attitudes of local people as they try and recreate a destroyed city. The main character is once again a talented and intrepid journalist, georgie who is a great character, bold, talented and vulnerable. I liked the character of Meta, a 16 year old girl, homeless and bereft of family who does what she needs to survive, whether it gets her into trouble or not. Wrapped up in the narrative is a murder mystery and a love story which act as great devices to sustain interest to the end. The book serves as an illustration of who brutalising war is and how its effects last long after actual conflict has ended. I loved this book.

Ms Robotham has given readers an engaging tale set in Hamburg in the immediate aftermath of the defeat of Nazi Germany. The cast of characters includes members of the struggling Kripo service (Criminal Police), officers of the occupying British Army and the local population. The author captures well the emotions and despair that would be expected among the ruins of a shattered city and a population that had endured the worst of the Alllied bombing in the war. Within this turbulent context Ms Robotgam weaves a murder mystery that brings a British journalist and a German Kripo Inspector together to tackle a mass murderer adding further misery in the ruins of Hamburg during a harsh winter.
Whilst Ms Robotham takes full advantage of an author’s licence to exploit rather unlikely coincidences, this is more than compensated for by a narrative that moves at a pace which keeps the reader turning pages. Couple this with a fluent writing style and enough likeable characters to satisfy most readers this makes for a thoroughly entertaining read. Strongly recommended.

This was a real joy to read, I enjoyed how good the historical elements were and how it worked with the mystery elements to this. I really felt for the characters and thought it was so heartbreaking. It worked in this setting and I thought the characters were everything that I wanted. Mandy Robotham writes great and I’ve enjoyed how each book I read has worked.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for this eARC.

This is one very moreish and absorbing book to read. I haven't read all of Mandy Robothams books although the ones I have I've thoroughly enjoyed and The Hidden Storyteller is no different.

What a great follow on from The Berlin Girl where Georgie returns to Hamburg a year after the end of WW2. I think the authors writing is so eloquent and descriptive and captured my attention from the first page, immediately drawing me into the story and held my interest all the way through. At times the writing tugged on my emotions and feelings as I'd really warmed to the characters, taken them to heart and was rooting for them - I thought they were so vividly written about that they jumped out of the pages and I could picture them and post war Hamburg in my mind when reading.

I really liked the crime element in the story, I felt it added more depth and rounded out the characters beautifully. I loved the story being told through the different characters and their perspectives. I can honestly say this book will stay with me for a while. Not only because of its great writing - I feel the author has captured post war Hamburg and the tensions between Allies and Germans, the residents and how they had to live to survive - so realistically and believably. For me, this is a very poignant, heart wrenching, moreish read and I was sad when I reached the end. If you're a fan of historical fiction I'd recomend this book and don't think you'll be disappointed.

5 stars 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Evocative and emotive, a real must read that captures the atmosphere of post war Hamburg. Germany is under the rule of the Allies, who are trying to give structure and purpose to the towns and cities that have been flattened during the fighting. There’s resentment on both sides as no one has come through it unscathed, despair and hopelessness from those who now try just to survive. Compelling reading from the start, we hear the stories of life there from all sides, both harrowing and very moving. There is a very good storyline about women who have managed to survive the war, only to be murdered and the way the local police are handicapped by lack of even the basics required for an investigation. I liked both reporter Georgie Young and also Kripo officer, Inspector Harri Schroder, who leads the investigation, and the way they worked together. This is the third book I’ve read by this author, all set at a point during WWII, and the author has obviously done extensive research into the period. It had me reading late into the night, I couldn’t put it down.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I read a lot of historical fiction and much of it is set during WW2. This however is a different take. It focuses on Hamburg in the period after the war had ended. Whilst there are lots of books about how England was at this time I have never, before read one that focussed on the devastation in Germany and the lives of the displaced people. This is a really great book, full of interesting characters that you want to survive. Highly recommended.

Another day excellent novel by Mandy Robotham! I didn’t really know what I was getting into with this one as I saw she was the author and just assumed it would be good, I was right. This story however I found to be more thriller with a dash of historical fiction. It was very well written and she had me on the edge of my seat the whole way through.