March Violets is the first entrée in Kerr’s Berlin trilogy. The book may be found separately or in Berlin Noir, the compilation of all three books.

March Violets is set in the darkening days of Hitler’s Germany; the 1936 Olympics are just coming to town. Kerr’s protagonist, Bernard Gunther, is a private detective hired by a very wealthy conservative (i.e. non-Nazi) German industrialist to find out who murdered his daughter and her Nazi husband, burned down their home, and stole a diamond necklace from their safe.

Kerr’s tale gets a bit convoluted and he is prone to excessive flights of language (usually intended to be funny, but falling flat to this reader). Kerr excels in recreating the complex world of Berlin, one of Europe’s most cosmopolitan cities as it is being smothered by the Nazis. Gunther is an ex-cop and we meet his former police colleagues, several colorful underworld characters, and a number of revolting Nazis, too. (Although even among the Nazis, there are levels of malevolence; Goering is on one level, Himmler on another one altogether.). Gunther also falls into bed with beautiful women with an ease sure to make most men jealous.

By the way, the title refers to the numerous new members the Nazi party gained after leveraged its 1933 electoral victory into total control of the German government. Older Nazis derided these latecomers as "March Violets."

An intelligent and entertaining tale that makes one want to read the second volume. Highly recommended. ( )

It took me a while to warm up to Bernie Gunther. At first he seemed a little too much like warmed-over Chandler. By the end of the book though, Kerr had me convinced that I needed to read another installment. ( )

In the late 1980s and early 1990s Philip Kerr wrote three novels featuring German detective Bernie Gunther. He revived the character for another novel a couple of years ago but this is his debut.

Gunther is a Berlin-based private detective and we join him in 1936 with Germany in the grip of the Nazis and the Olympics about to start. He’s hired by Hermann Six, a wealthy industrialist who wants him to look into the death of his daughter and her husband. The couple were murdered in their bed and the daughter’s valuable jewelry was stolen from the safe.

The case soon becomes complicated as Gunther discovers that Six’s son-in-law was working for the SS and that his safe contained papers that several very senior Nazis would like to get their hands on.

The story would feel cliched were it not for the setting. Stolen jewels, wealthy industrialists, illicit affairs, blackmail and so on are reconstituted in various combinations in all manner of novels of this ilk. However, the fact that all of this takes place within a society that is fundamentally corrupt and remorselessly violent lends an air of menace to proceedings.
Full review: http://www.26books.com/?p=438