Stasi Child
Read more at: http://www.london24.com/entertainment/book_review_what_milo_saw_by_virginia_macgregor_1_3750981
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Copy kindly supplied by Bonnier Publishing in return for an honest review via NetGalley.
5 out of 5 stars
When Oberleutnant Karin Müller is called to investigate a teenage girl’s body at the foot of the Wall, she imagines she’s seen it all before. But when she arrives she realises this is a death like no other: it seems the girl was trying to escape – but from the West.
Müller is a member of the People’s Police, but in East Germany her power only stretches so far. The Stasi want her to discover the identity of the girl, but assure her the case is otherwise closed – and strongly discourage her asking questions.
The evidence doesn’t add up, and Müller soon realises the crime scene has been staged. But this is not a regime that tolerates a curious mind, and Müller doesn’t realise that the trail she’s following will lead her dangerously close to home .
Karin Müller wakes up to a mistake, not realising that this will set the tone for the next few weeks of her life. A body has been discovered, and the Stasi want her involvement with the investigation, why she does not know, but there’s something about this case that drives her to need the answers to some important questions. Who was this teenage girl? Why was she escaping from the West? What could the Stasi need from her on the case? And why is her personal life falling to pieces?
Müller and her deputy Tilsner are on a tight leash, the Stasi operative has set strict parameters for their involvement with the case, find out who the identity of the body, nothing else. But Müller is not so easily deterred, after the post mortem, she is more determined to find out who the murderer is, unaware of how dangerous it could be for her and Tilsner.
The political minefield that the characters must wade through is intense, who can they trust; Can she trust her superiors? Can Müller even trust her deputy?
As the plot, and sub plot twist and turn you feel yourself drawn in, desperately trying to guess ahead what might happen, and how it all links together. Desperately trying not to say any more about the plot, it would give too much away and ruin it for other readers, but I will say that this is a gripping read, don’t read it at bedtime, or you may fall into the same trap as me..”just one more chapter then I’ll go to sleep….oh hold on, this is getting interesting, just another chapter….”
The use of German language in this novel is good, it adds an authenticity to the text, as well as had me enjoying using my long forgotten German to translate words before reading on.
The descriptions of the settings are superb, a lot of attention to detail has been made, this is a cleverly complicated novel, but not one that’s difficult to follow.
For a debut novel this is an incredibly high standard for Young to follow, and I really do hope that the next Karin Müller is out soon!
I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, and Historical genres, especially books set during the time of the Berlin Wall,
I would like to thank Bonnier Publishing for the copy of this novel in return for an honest review and if you would like to buy a copy, this book will be published on 1st October 2015 . A copy can be purchased here Stasi Child (Kindle UK Version)
[…] the success of Stasi Child I will admit I was champing at the bit so to speak to see where Young would take Karin Müller […]
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