The Ashes of Berlin

This is an impeccably researched and atmospheric novel featuring Gregor Reinhardt now working as a police detective in a much reduced and fractured police 'kripa' unenviably trying to serve four masters in post war Berlin in 1947. The bombed out ruins of the city is a hotbed of theft, assaults, rape, extortion, black marketeering and corruption. All malice is foisted on the desperate whilst the desperate try to get away with as much as possible. There are gangs of feral orphans and people are struggling to stay alive amidst the poverty, starvation and bleakness. Berliners try to ally themselves with the occupiers in an effort to gain access to food, cigarettes, alcohol and other goods and favours. German women who go with the allies are treated with contempt and savagery, in the time honoured tradition of a man taking out his failings on women and children.

Treated with suspicion and contempt within the police, Reinhardt is working the nightshift when he is called to Neukolln and the murder of two men. One turns out to be David Carlson, a military lawyer working with the British faction on war crimes and the other is Andreas Noell, a man who served in the German airforce. The allies interfere in the investigation and succeed in separating the two murders whilst Reinhardt focuses on Noell. This is a twisted trail of a case that draws in the powerful and knowledgeable Russian, Skokov, who seems to know everything about the case and insists that Reinhardt keeps him informed about all developments, as indeed do the Americans and British. The political intrigue and danger seeps into every corner of the case. We have die hard Nazi SS sympathisers who have no intention of going away and are a force to be reckoned with. More murders occur and it becomes clear that there is a connection with the victims and an airforce group in North Africa and the darkest of secret deeds that happened under the Nazi regime. There is a dangerous and highly skilled killer with the qualities of a chameleon in search of his own brand of justice.

Justice in Germany at this stage is a murky chequered affair, compromised, and subject to the demands of real politik. Amongst the allies, the fractures between them are transparent and each is in a race for 'what shines in the rubble', particularly German scientists and others perceived as of high value irrespective of what they may have done. This novel captures this period of Berlin's history in an impressive manner. It delineates the complications, past and family of characters like Reinhardt such as the return of his son, Friedrich, who is struggling to come to terms with all that he did in the war and after. This is a scarred city and people, much has happened, none of it is pretty but there is the huge task of building for the future. No easy task and and there is the inevitable moral ambiguity as to how this is achieved. The author is brilliant in painting this complexity and this tumultuous time in the book. This is a superb novel which I highly recommend. Thanks to Oldcastle Books for an ARC.

The darker the night…
I worried about this one. A considerable part of the attraction of the first two Gregor Reinhart novels was the setting, German occupied Bosnia in the 1940s and especially the focus on Sarajevo with all its evocative aspects. Of course Reinhart is a fascinating creation himself and the plots of both novels were finely crafted and fascinating, but how would Reinhart transfer to post-war Berlin, an apocalyptic wasteland apparently populated by huge numbers of detectives, policeman, spies and investigators from recent fiction by other novelists?
I need not have worried at all. The author has continued to write excellent, plot driven fiction which holds the reader’s attention throughout. A former pilot in a Luftwaffe squadron is found murdered. Others from the same squadron have suffered a similar fate. How are they linked? And who is the murderer?
The Berlin setting in its ruinous state with its gangs of feral children, its competing factions of Germans and the murderous rivalries of the occupying forces is superbly drawn. Best of all is the characterisation of Reinhart, now an ex-soldier, a former military policeman, placed by the Americans in a communist dominated police force where he is mocked and despised, but continues doggedly to pursue justice as ever. He can trust almost no-one and his investigations are hindered by colleagues and facilitated by self-interested enemies against a background of destruction, prejudice, hatred and danger. He makes use of surviving Nazis, street children, Russian operatives, British spies, old friends and old foes, as well as those whose motivation is entirely unclear. The plot is twisting, labyrinthine, unravelling slowly through Reinhart’s painstaking, determined investigative work. His quarry is as intelligent as he is, but far more ruthless. Justice of a sort is served in the end, but it is untidy, provokes much thought and poses many questions. As for Reinhart, he may have solved his final case – or perhaps not…

I would like to thank Netgalley and Oldcastle Books for a review copy of The Ashes Of Berlin, the third novel in the Gregor Reinhardt series of WW2 novels.

It is all change in this novel. It is 1947 and the war is over. Reinhardt, with nothing better to do, returns to Berlin at the prompting of the Americans and rejoins the police force. Again things have changed but not for the better from his point of view. The Berlin police force is populated with officers whose only merit is their communist sympathies and Reinhardt, championed by the Americans, is vilified, distrusted and ostracised until he catches a murder case and the situation goes from bad to worse. A former airforce pilot has been murdered along with another man no one can identify, until they can and he is a British lawyer working on war crimes. Reinhardt is the only one to believe the murders are linked and having upset the Brits he is given the case of the airman and others the lawyer. Reinhardt soon discovers the airman is not the only victim and he is pursuing a serial killer intent on killing a group of wartime pilots. The novel follows his investigation into the who and why.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Ashes Of Berlin as it is a proper, grown up book which covers a lot of ground. Firstly, there is the murder investigation which is clever, twisted and compelling. Secondly, there is the historical detail of how life was for Berliners, hunger, poverty, rubble and fear. Thirdly, there is the political situation of a Berlin divided into 4 occupied zones and the associated infighting between the allies. It is a long, complex novel but so worthwhile on all levels.

Reinhardt is a difficult character. He is dedicated to his job and committed to finding the killer but not so good at the politics and sometimes falls off the tightrope he is forced to walk because it seems that only the French have no interest in his investigation. The tension when the Russian intelligence officer, Skokov, pays him a visit it palpable because Reinhardt has no idea why he is interested in his investigation. Equally he comes under pressure from both the Americans and British to reveal what he knows. And yet, with so much interest from the occupying forces he gets no support and some active hindrance from the German police. He is prone to melancholy and can see no way out of his predicament but instead of disliking him for his lack of gumption in dealing with it I found myself agreeing with and rooting for him.

The hunt for the killer is riveting and brings Reinhardt into contact with many different groups which allows Mr McCallin to portray, in vignette, many disparate strands of Berlin society, the urchins living rough in the rubble, the disaffected veterans who are viewed with scorn by the rest of the populace, the forerunners of the Stasi and their sneaky, loutish ways, the aristocratic Junkers, stripped of their lands by the Soviets and, obviously, the Nazis who gave gone underground but still cling to their beliefs. They all play their part in a baffling case, although I must admit to guessing the perpetrator before the dénouement, not long before but enough to make it a little drawn out.

Post war politics play a big part in the novel but it is never polemicised, rather it all falls into place naturally as Reinhardt negotiates them, much as one would a minefield, in the course of his investigation. The manoeuvrings and jockeying for position are fascinating but very much background to Reinhardt's case.

Given the setting and Reinhardt's feelings this is a dark, gritty book but somehow it escapes being bleak and just feels realistic. I think it is a very complete novel with a broad canvas and yet Reinhardt's reactions make it seem intimate. The Ashes Of Berlin is an excellent read and I have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone who loves a good book.

This is the third in the series of stories featuring Gregor Reinhardt, now an Inspector in the post-war Berlin police force, and to my mind, it is the strongest so far. Like its predecessors, The Man From Berlin and The Pale House, it is an extremely well-crafted detective story in which Reinhardt pursues a ruthless killer across the divided city of Berlin. The meticulous research of the author is apparent in the evocative descriptions of the ravaged city, the orphaned children, the food and fuel shortages where a packet of Lucky Strike cigarettes is valued currency. The turbulent political situation in which each of the Allies is attempting to exert and protect their power and influence is realistically brought to life.

In Gregor Reinhardt, the author has created a compelling character with believable doubts and flaws. A loner, shunned by colleagues suspicious of his allegiances and unsure who he can trust, in this book he reminded me of Alec Leamas in John Le Carre’s masterful The Spy Who Came In From the Cold. Prone to almost obsessive introspection, Reinhardt once again questions himself and his principles, battling his inner demons – his capacity for violence (the “darker side of himself)”, his weakness for alcohol, driven by the desire to atone for perceived past actions (or inactions). However, he is also proud of his skill and experience and unwilling to “bend with the wind” like so many of his colleagues. Widowed and estranged from his son who is missing on the Russian front, there is a touching scene in which Reinhardt is drawn to seek a connection with his past life. Behind the search for the killer, which has plenty of satisfying twists and turns, the novel depicts the dreadful legacy of the war on individuals; the stories they cannot bear to tell but that weigh heavy on them and, in some cases, drive their actions.

I thought this was a terrific read and I was torn between wanting to find out what happened and not wanting it to end.

This is the first in an emerging series and hopefully this is the one that shoots Luke McCallin in to the prominent place that he deserves within the Premier League of thriller writers.

This is just as good as anything that the likes of Alan Furst, Philip Kerr and John Lawton has written and that is high praise indeed.

Berlin after the war is a dreadful place and its full horror is revealed in a well written and beautifully plotted thriller.

Highly recommended.

I found this book to be very interesting as it looks at the post WWII Berlin from a German's perspective. The story was a bit vague in places but very readable and kept your interest throughout the tale.

A great story for your “Berlin Noir” shelf

This is the third Gregor Reinhardt novel by Luke McCallin and is set in 1947 Berlin rather than the wartime former Yugoslavia which provided the back drop for the first two.

McCallin re-creates the war weary terrain of Berlin incredibly well. His research is impeccable and his writing entertains as well as educating the reader on Berlin’s post war history and its politics.

Gregor Reinhardt, the main character who has returned to his pre-war job of police detective is a detailed character whose wartime experiences have moulded into a conscience ridden soul. A murder in the American sector brings him up against all 4 occupying authorities as he tries to solve the crime.

Even if you are not interested in the history, it’s a great police procedural that will keep you guessing. If you are a fan of John le Carré or Len Deighton, and have read Philip Kerr's "Bernie Gunther" series then this will absolutely appeal to you.