For the evenings on the couch, we have put together a few exciting detective stories that will take you into Berlin's dark corners and hopefully provide a little distraction. Have fun reading.
Tip 1: The Gedeon Rath novels by Volker Kutscher
Not only with the successful film adaptation as the series Babylon Berlin, the thrilling crime thrillers around the policeman Gereon Rath are popular crime fare from Berlin. Volker Kutscher's novels are set in Berlin at the time of the rise of National Socialism and offer at the same time a well-researched insight into the politics and society of the late 1920s and early 1930s. There are a total of seven volumes in the series, so there is plenty of reading material.
Tip 2: Berlin triology by Philip Kerr
Long before Volker Kutscher had his Gedeon Rath investigated, Philip Kerr had already sent his private detective Barnie Gunther to Berlin during the National Socialist era. In the first three novels of the series Barnie Gunther sets off in search of murderers in Berlin. In the other volumes he is involved in gripping international cases.
Tip 3: The Eye Collector by Sebastian Fitzek
Not for the faint-hearted: Sebastian Fitzek is a Berliner and so many of his gripping psychological thrillers are set in Berlin. "The Eye collector" takes you out to the Wannsee and to Grünau, where the bestial eye collector is up to no good.
Tip 4: Auris by Vincent Kliesch
Based on an idea by Sebastian Fitzek, this fascinating thriller was created, the start of a new series around the true crime podcaster Jula Ansorge. If you want to know what forensic phonetics is, then read on. You won't be able to stop that soon. By the way, the book premiere took place in the former wiretapping facilities on Teufelsberg. (In German only)
Tip 5: Der König von Berlin by Horst Ewers
Horst Ewers is a well-known cabaret artist, but he can also be different. In the King of Berlin, the "village sheriff" Inspector Lanner, freshly transferred to Berlin from the provinces, is on a murder hunt and descends into the shallows of the metropolis, where a plague of rats and other inconveniences await him. A bit of cabaret is also included. (In German only)
Tip 6: Königsblau - Mord nach jeder Fasson by Tom Wolf
Commissioned by Frederick II, the court kitchen master, Honoré Langustier, investigates in a total of thirteen volumes with colourful titles such as "Raven Black", "Sceptre and Mordio", "Purple Red" or "Sulphur Yellow". The culinary artist, who loves good food as much as tricky thought games, investigates at at the Prussian court and in the Berlin of that time. (In German only)
Tip 7: Shalom Berlin by Michael Wallner
The prelude to a the series by bestselling author Michael Wallner deals with current topics such as anti-Semitism and tendency to violence. Alain Liebermann is a member of the mobile task force State Security and is a specialist in counter-terrorism. His first case begins with the threat to a journalist and soon leads him to evil machinations and acts of violence. There are now two more volumes.
Tip 8: The Bullet Trick by Louise Welsh
From Glasgow to Berlin: The English thriller takes place in the small, already run-down variety theatres where the magician William Wilson performs. It is less a classic whodunit than the fascinating psychogram of a man between guilt and innocence.
Tip 9: Leo Berlin by Susanne Goga
The Leo Dressler series by Susanne Goga is set in 1920s Berlin. Inspector Leo Wechsler investigates the case of a murdered miracle healer. In the further volumes he has to deal with right-wing secret societies, murder in the film studios of Babelsberg and poison attacks in the fashion industry. (In German only)
Tip 10: Crime novels by -ky
The classic of the Berlin crime novel. The author Horst Bosetzky, who died in 2018, has published numerous crime novels under the pseudonym -ky, many of which are based on historical cases. In "The Devil of Köpenick" he dealt with the case of the alleged murderer Bruno Lüdke. And with his "Es geschah in Preußen" series he has brought 19th century Prussian Berlin back to life. (In German only)
Tip 11: Russengold by Richard Grosse
Richard Grosse's crime novels take you back to the GDR of the 1970s. Major Bircher searches between Berlin and Moscow for a cunning murderer. In the crime thriller "Hochhausmörder" he has to put a stop to a serial killer who is up to no good in the "Haus des Kindes" high-rise.
