A Quiet Flame (Bernie Gunther Novels) Review
A Quiet Flame is Philip Kerr's fifth Bernie Gunther novel, but it is the first one that I have read. I plan to go back and read the others, and I hope that the only spoiler is that Bernie didn't die in any of the previous novels. ;-)
As for the novel at hand, I found it to be a good read. The story follows a couple of parallel arcs in time as Bernie finds himself in Buenos Aires circa 1950 as an ex-SS fugitive. The local Peron secret enlist Bernie in helping solve a local murder that they think might be tied to two unsolved murders that Bernie investigated in Germany back in 1932. As the plot unfolds, Kerr ping pongs between 1950 and 1932 giving readers the backstory of the unsolved cases. The Pre-WWII depictions of Berlin and Munich are enough to make your skin crawl, and it gives an interesting perspective on how the Nazis came to power between the public outcries over unemployment and immorality. It is ironic how Argentina of 1950 is at its core not entirely different - according to the novel anyway - even though it is a self-professed Catholic country. In his role as an investigator for the Argentine secret police, Bernie proceeds to investigate his fellow fugitive countrymen in hopes of tying the current case to those from his past. Things play out quite differently than I had expected them to.
Also, in the course of the story, Bernie encounters a young Jewish Catholic (not a typo) woman named Anna Yagubsky who is a Russian immigrant. She is trying to find her aunt and uncle on behalf of her father. They have been missing for three years without a trace. These plot lines intersect in a way that I found as shocking as the characters themselves although this might have been due to lack of knowledge of Post-WWII history.
As for the characters, Bernie has a quick, sharp, dry wit that I found rather appealing. His inner monologue is amusing. I could almost picture it as being done in a parody of the Film Noir genre.
One final note I want to mention relates to the cover. The picture of the dame with the gun and the title almost give the impression that this is some sort of chick romance novel, but it is certainly not. It is for people how like a hardboiled detective story that aren't squeamish about the dark side of humanity. None of the evil or vice is gratuitous or glorified, but it is there nonetheless.
Overall: B
A Quiet Flame (Bernie Gunther Novels) Feature
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A Quiet Flame (Bernie Gunther Novels) Overview
Philip Kerr returns with his best-loved character, Bernie Gunther, in the fifth novel in what is now a series: a tight, twisting, compelling thriller that is firmly rooted in history.
A Quiet Flame opens in 1950. Falsely fingered a war criminal, Bernie Gunther has booked passage to Buenos Aires, lured, like the Nazis whose company he has always despised, by promises of a new life and a clean passport from the Perón government. But Bernie doesn’t have the luxury of settling into his new home and lying low. He is soon pressured by the local police into taking on a case in which a girl has turned up dead, gruesomely mutilated, and another—the daughter of a wealthy German banker—has gone missing. Both crimes seem to connect to an unsolved case Bernie worked on back in Berlin in 1932. It’s not so far-fetched that the cases might be linked: after all, the scum of the earth has been washing up on Argentine shores—state-licensed murderers and torturers—so why couldn’t a serial killer be among them?
But Argentina, just like Germany, holds terrible secrets within its corrupt halls of power. When beautiful Anna Yagubsky seeks Gunther out, desperate for help, to find out what happened to her Jewish aunt and uncle who have disappeared, he is drawn into a horror story that rivals everything he has tried so hard to leave behind half a world away.
In this new postwar world, Bernie Gunther is a man without a name or a country, but still in full possession of his conscience. He is “the right kind of hero for his time—and ours.” (Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review)
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Customer Reviews
An exciting, hugely entertaining, and informative read - Penelope J. - San Diego, CA
Bernie Gunther at his wise-cracking, sentimental, sordid secret uncovering best. This book has history, mystery, charm, personality, excitement, great descriptions, setting, and little known information. Set in 1934 Berlin and 1950 Argentina - rife with escaped Nazis - it is both a prequel to Philip Kerr's "Berlin Noir" trilogy and a sequel to his "The One from the Other." We meet Eichmann, Dr. Mengele, and the no. 3 Jewish exterminator, Gen. Hans Kammler who supposedly died at the end of WWII, but may also have been taken in by the U.S. as part of the Papnelip Program.
Bernie wants to leave his past behind but it catches up to him in the form of Colonel Montalban of the police force who asks him to investigate a case or ... Bernie does so with consequences that almost cost him his life. The book is full of twists, narrow escapes, and mind-boggling and some horrifying facts: How the Nazis continued to live in prosperity off their ill-gotten gains with the collusion of the avaricious, pedophile Peron; how Peron used Jewish refugee funds to gain votes, and collaborated in the murder/massacre of approximately 200,000 Jewish refugees who had escaped the Holocaust only to lose their lives in 1947; and how many still living bodies did Peron (and his successors) disposed of by throwing them out over the Rio de la Plata?
What this reader likes most about Philip Kerr's books is that they contain history, mystery, charm, personality, excitement, great descriptions and setting, interesting information, and excellent writing. "A Quiet Flame" has all these and more.
Great recreation of the Argentina of the Perons - Daniel Berger - Atlanta, GA USA
Kerr gets his mojo back in this one, the previous installment in the Bernie Gunther series having been, in my opinion, his weakest.
Gunther, framed for a war crime he didn't commit, flees to Argentina in 1950 in company including Adolf Eichmann. Knowing Gunther used to be a cop, a high-ranking officer in the Peron government hires him to use his SS contacts to investigate the sadistic killing of a young girl and disappearance of another that may be the work of a serial killer among the recent immigrants. Gunther comes into contact with the whole shadow community of escaped Nazis, with an appearance as well by Auschwitz's Josef Mengele.
Gunther meanwhile helps a Jewish woman trying to learn what happened to her relatives, who emigrated illegally to Argentina, then disappeared. Gunther finds out that the subject of Argentina's secret Jewish policy is taboo, questions about it provoking a violent response from the powers-that-be.
Kerr does a great job recreating the Argentina of Juan and Eva Peron, who appear as characters, as the backdrop for this book. It's a highly Catholic state where, behind the scenes, a disturbing level of immorality prevails, reminding Gunther of Weimar Germany's decadence. Another parallel is a Hitler-era level of anti-Semitism. Gunther's investigation leads him into progressively scarier corners of Argentine life.
Gunther flashes back to his investigation of similar killings nearly 20 years before. Is there a connection? Eva Peron fascinates, as a character somehow embodying Mother Theresa and a sex bomb all at the same time, personally distributing to the poor money which is war loot extorted from the Nazis.
Another Gunther classic - JoeV - Arlington Hts, IL
This is the fifth Bernie Gunther novel. Bernie is an ex-Berlin police detective, ex-PI and ex-member of Himmler's SS - the last reluctantly. (Bernie was given an offer he couldn't refuse, but you'll have to read the series for that story). He is also a very likeable protagonist, reminiscent of Chandler's Philip Marlowe, even with his Nazi past. In the series the reader meets historical figures and the author chronicles historical events while Bernie solves crimes during these turbulent times.
In A Quiet Flame, it's 1950 and Bernie, falsely accused of being a war criminal and with several other ex-Nazis - including Adolf Eichmann - is seeking exile in Juan Peron's Argentina. Looking for work and Argentinean citizenship, Bernie is approached by a local policeman and given another offer he can't refuse - investigating a series of murders of young girls which is very reminiscent of an unsolved case Gunther worked in Berlin eighteen years earlier. Bernie agrees and soon finds himself involved in the political intrigue of his new home while finding disturbing clues leading him back to his previous case in Germany and his fellow German exiles. This book jumps back in forth in time between 1932 and the 1950's - all handled very effectively with flashbacks.
Just like the previous books in the series this is an excellent read. You don't have to read the earlier books in the series to enjoy A Quiet Flame but it sure helps. And my guess is if you do start here, you will want to read the earlier books - the first three are collected under one cover "Berlin Noir".
Highly recommended.
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