Cover

Dedication

A huge thank you to all my readers in the UK and beyond.
This book is dedicated to you all.

Introduction

Introduction

This novel is set in communist East Germany, the German Democratic Republic (Deutsche Demokratische Republik, or DDR) in 1982, at a time when the first cracks were starting to appear in the Soviet bloc – thanks to the Solidarity movement in Poland. In December 1981, the Polish prime minister, General Wojciech Jaruzelski, had begun a crackdown against the movement, declaring martial law.

Nevertheless, there was no real inkling at the time that East Germany itself would within nine years cease to exist, and that the hated Berlin Wall – or Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart as it was known in the DDR – would be torn down even sooner.

East Germany has come to be identified with its feared Ministry for State Security (MfS), more commonly known as the Stasi, a contraction of its official German name. It was one of the most extensive security networks in the world, where friends reported on friends, neighbours on neighbours and even family members or lovers on each other.

But there was more to East Germany than the Stasi, many things that are still mourned by its former citizens. The sense of community, excellent childcare facilities, and one of the highest standards of living in the Eastern Bloc. What always rankled though, even for those who didn’t fall foul of the Stasi, was the lack of freedom – particularly freedom to travel to the west (unless, of course, you were a pensioner).

Criminal investigations were generally the preserve of the People’s Police (Volkspolizei) and in particular its CID division (the Kriminalpolizei – Kripo or K for short), but those with significant political overtones could be taken over by the Stasi. Former detectives who served with the People’s Police have always insisted to me that they operated like regular policemen, ‘just like at your Scotland Yard’, and had little or nothing to do with the Stasi (even though many People’s Police officers were unofficial Stasi informants). But many DDR citizens regarded the Volkspolizei and the Stasi as being little different at their core – both were organs of the state.

For the sake of authenticity, I’ve retained the German ranks for the police, which followed military lines. My main character, Karin Müller, has in this book been reduced in rank to Hauptmann, or captain. For other ranks and an explanation of occasional German words in the text, please see the Glossary at the back of the book.

As things stand, this is likely to be the last story of the series. It’s a separate case, and so can be read and enjoyed without having read the previous books in the series.

DY, July 2020

Prologue

Prologue

Bastei, Bezirk Dresden, East Germany

March 1982