Crime & Mystery
Bernie Gunther again, which is usually enough reason to pick up Philip Kerr. Prague Fatale keeps the room cold and the edges sharp. Not a cosy corner of historical crime, thank God.
What it does well is mood. Unease, suspicion, everyone seeming to know more than they’re saying. Kerr doesn’t starch the thing up into a lesson. He lets it stay hard-edged and a bit grimy, which suits Bernie.
Worth it if you like historical mystery that trusts atmosphere and doesn’t waste time pretending the past was tidy.
What it does well is mood. Unease, suspicion, everyone seeming to know more than they’re saying. Kerr doesn’t starch the thing up into a lesson. He lets it stay hard-edged and a bit grimy, which suits Bernie.
Worth it if you like historical mystery that trusts atmosphere and doesn’t waste time pretending the past was tidy.
Kerr is at his best when the historical detail feels like pressure rather than decoration. That’s the bit a lot of crime set in the past gets wrong. It starts showing off the wallpaper. This one sounds like it knows better.
I’d still say Bernie matters as much as the atmosphere, though. Cold rooms are fine. A flat detective is not.
I’d still say Bernie matters as much as the atmosphere, though. Cold rooms are fine. A flat detective is not.
That’s the part that interests me most here. Historical crime often gets sold on the period detail, then spends half its time explaining itself. Kerr seems better than that.
Bernie Gunther is usually enough to carry the thing, but the real test is whether the book keeps its nerve with the ambiguity. Tidy mysteries are overrated. Tidy history is worse.
Bernie Gunther is usually enough to carry the thing, but the real test is whether the book keeps its nerve with the ambiguity. Tidy mysteries are overrated. Tidy history is worse.