This series plunges readers into the gritty reality of post-war Germany, where a determined detective tackles dark cases amidst the ruins of cities like Berlin and Hamburg. Each installment offers a gripping mystery, meticulously set against a backdrop of historical authenticity, blending an atmosphere of despair with the first glimmers of hope. The protagonist navigates treacherous investigations while confronting the lingering shadows of war. It's compelling reading for fans of atmospheric historical crime fiction.
The Murderer in Ruins is the first of a trilogy, set in Hamburg, 1947. A murderer is on the loose and policeman Frank Stave, whilst plagued with worry about his missing son, is under increasing pressure to find out why - after the atrocities of World War II - someone still has the stomach for murder.
After a bitterly cold winter of starvation, the bombed city groans under excruciating heat and chief inspector Frank Stave is confronted with a new case. In the ruins of a shipyard, the corpse of a boy is found and Stave's hunt for the killer leads him into the world of wolf children: orphaned children who have fled from the Occupied Eastern Territories and are now united in gangs. When two more bodies are discovered, Stave is under increasing pressure as he struggles to keep his personal life together, too.
Shot down during a routine operation, inspector Frank Stave had moved from the murder commission to combatting the black market that runs rife in post-war Hamburg. There, Stave is confronted with an enigmatic case: in the ruins of the bomb torn city, some women have found works of art from the Weimar period--right next to a corpse whose identity the murder commission seem desperate to conceal. Shortly afterwards, Lieutenant MacDonald is confronted with another problem: mysterious banknotes are popping up on the black market, banknotes whose existence disturbs the secret plans of the Allies. The inspector soon discovers strange parallels between the two cases. The Forger is the stunning conclusion to the Inspector Stave Crime trilogy that will leave you breathless.