Enjoy listening to audible books just before going to bed. This one kept me up until wee hours of night. Really exiting and great understanding of Nazi Germany in 1930s. Will certainly buy the remaining 3 books.
Ivan

I love books in the detective novel genre, and really enjoy stories written about the WWII era. This one takes place in pre-WWII Nazi Germany and introduces the protagonist Bernie Gunther as an Ex Cop, "Good Guy" detective.

Overall the story is a little flat and predictable, but the fictional tale around actual historical characters is interesting from a lot of angles. I like the author's writing style and his candid depiction of the real life brutality and violence that existed in 1936 Berlin, and I do look forward to continuing the series.

The narrator John Lee is one of the best in the business and is terrific in this one!

Overall Recommended, especially if you like the genre and stories about this era.

In the top 25%

Gunther. He is irreverent, someone you can relate to emotionally, given his circumstances and the times he lived in.He is not afraid of himself.

Too many to select one specifically.

Against all odds, a mystery is solved.

Yes

The book started out kind of even/even as far as what I expected. I puzzled out the guilt pretty quickly as far as the story went, however, there were twists I did not see coming at all. As the story developed, it simply just kept getting better. Same with the settings.

As in my last review of a Gunther novel, the reader seemed terse and brisk. In this tale it was less of a problem for me though. It fit very well with the story line. Again, Kerr has made a historical setting come alive in his narrative. Many of the characters were not as developed or as interesting as those in "A German Requiem" and the period does not interest me as much. But the story is as great, if not better than the latter. So far, Kerr's Gunther novels have been worth the money and the time spent.

No, because it was too mundane. Had all the same characteristics of any common detective story. No unique features.

Given a little more life to the constraints of living in Nazi Germany, similarly to the way life in Soviet Russia was treated in Child 44.

Just OK

No, but there undoubtedly be one.

It intertwines history and fiction, it's full of suspense and I love Bernie Gunther's character. He is gritty and sarcastic. I didn't like the ending too much and there is a lose end that does not get resolved. But these are minor bumps in an otherwise smooth narrative.

Bernie Gunther is a cool cat.

Bernie, but I am amazed at John Lees spectrum of talent. He is great as every character, even females.

Yes!!!!!

Just finished the next book in series, Pale Criminal. Even better than the the March of Violets.

I am a fan of all of the Phillip Kerr books but the narration of this book was wrong. Bernie Gunthere is a tough Berlin cop, now private investigator, navigating his way through an increasing dangerous and insane Nazi environment. The narrator gives Bernie an english accent which makes him sound like a Duke or Earl and not the gritty character we have come to know. The story is great but I could not get to the reality of the story because of the wrong notes of the narration.

Maybe, but not until I've made an attempt at exhausting most of the truly exceptional recordings out there.

I would say yes, it was. I nearly gave up on it a couple of times because the characters are a bit flat and predictable, but the narration was excellent and so I persevered. It was good, but it did not leave me wanting more.

We downloaded March Violets in order to listen to the book in the car. However, we were only able to download 7 cds (sony CD-R Audio 80 minutes). We on't know whether we are missing one or two discs to finish the story.

Very frustrating

He was good

We would like to learn the conclusion of the story.

I am a big fan of John Lee and actively seek him out. He does not disappoint with this performance.

Fantastic fast moving story with a great historical backdrop. John Lee does a superb job of narration. I have read other Kerr books but I think this is my favorite so fa.