Disordered Daggers : The Man from Berlin by Luke McCallin (2014)
Sarajevo, 1943. Captain Gregor Reinhardt, ex-Kripo, now an officer in the Abwehr, is called in following a double murder - a glamorous, voluptuous film director, Maria Vukic, has been stabbed in her bed, and the corpse of a German counter intelligence officer is in the neighbouring room. Reinhardt has to navigate the concerns and conflicting agendas of the Sarajevo police, the German military, even the SS, whilst he is doing work in the service of a regime he has never believed in.
Luke McCallin has created a convincing portrait of what was then the Independent State of Croatia - the religious and political conflicts, the milieu of life in a client state run by the local fascists. There’s also a slow-burn murder mystery, detailed and convincing descriptions of the ongoing campaign against the partisans, and some seductive travel writing too. He can’t quite make the final showdown between Reinhardt and his suspects work, to my mind, because a scene which Agatha Christie would stage in the traditional drawing room takes place in a field HQ in the heat of military action. Nevertheless this absorbed me for days, and I’m pleased to see that the sequel has just been published.
One of six titles shortlisted for the CWA Endeavour Historical Dagger, to be presented on the 30th of June.