" The third of the series featuring Bernie Gunther. WWII has now been lost, and miraculously Bernie has survived -- miraculously because, having been co-opted into the SS, he was able to escape having to participate in that organization's crimes only by volunteering for combat. Now, a PI in Berlin once more, he's wondering if his wife is giving blowjobs to occupying Americans for money and gifts when he's hired by a Russian officer to try to produce the evidence that will save a convicted murderer in Vienna from the hangman's rope; the prisoner in question, the Russian's colleague in black market dealings, was also, years ago, one of Bernie's subordinates in the Kripo, so Bernie is perfectly aware of how murderous the man is. Off to Vienna Bernie goes, wondering if he'll have a marriage to come home to (this doesn't stop him from boffing any volunteers he encounters, of course), and soon he finds himself in the midst of a sea of grubby international politics as rival occupation forces jostle for ascendancy; part of the mix comprises those German war criminals who're trying to ensure they not just escape retribution but actually establish themselves in good positions in whatever new order will emerge from this chaotic melting pot.
I found this novel far more engaging than its three predecessors, with characters that were better drawn and a satisfactorily twisty plot -- this latter marred, perhaps, by a couple of marginally implausible coincidences. Even so, I may track down later titles in the series. "
— John, 2/13/2014