City of Shadows Paperback – Illustrated, February 6, 2007

This book is just so very good. I was sorry when it ended.

As a rule, I love historical novels but they have to be well written and go beyond the period piece book. City of Shadows is an excellent historical novel, set in Berlín, Germany in the early ‘20s and ‘30s of the last century. We watch as the shadow of Nazism creeps in and turns a a lovely, cosmopolitan city which had welcomed Russian refugees from the Bolsheviks with open arms and had a vibrant Jewish community, into a fearful place where you cannot trust anyone, friend, family or neighbor. But this book goes beyond the usual novel in that it combines the thrill of a serial killer who lurks somewhere in Belin and attacks, seemingly without rhyme and reason. The characters are wonderfully fleshed out. You care for them and what happens to them. There’s Esther, a Russian Jewish refugee who works as the secretary of the unscrupulous but charming Nick, a cabaret owner. Nick has hatched a plan to pass a young asylum inmate as Anastasia, the last of the Romanovs. Then there’s Detective Schmidt, a decent, honest hard working cop, trying to make sense of the brazen murders. He is a family man and deeply cares for his wife. His sergeant, Willi, is cut from the same cloth but provides some comic sidelines that lighten up even the darkest moments. Their repartee is a well done and not frivolous. The author has a wonderful way of portraying people and scenes that puts the reader alongside Esther and .Schmidt. Historical characters, like Prince Felix Yusupov, Rasputin’s assassin, show up and liven the narrative. And there’s the final twist at the end. This is a great read! Interesting, thrilling, totally absorbing.

I loved it and was interested in the prewar history of Germany. Ms. Franklin, sadly now deceased, had such a gift of enlarging on personalities and integrating ideas of the time, and evolving them to connect; I have read several of her books including the Mistress of Death series and her moving depiction of history put into story form makes history so much more interesting, yet staying with the concepts and development of history so you get a good feel for the actual period it is depicting. What was haunting in City of Shadows was the division of the people about inflation, how emotionally hard and devastating to them, and how Hitler was perceived, both sides of the political process, and the blind faith turned to agony. Franklin had a way with words and describing emotions that makes you feel you are right in the middle of what is happening, and I was forced to choose sides, based on my own political views and then to back up and reevaluate as if I was right in the there faced with the same horrible choices. She drew out feelings I did not know I had. I hurt for Anna Andersen as she seemed so troubled but expectant of being of Russian royalty and totally self-absorbed, wounded, and the utter consumate expectation of people to take care of her as it was. Made me have very mixed feelings for her, yet, Esther saw her as a wounded human being who needed someone to care for her which I admired tremendously as if she had the ability to see into her soul. A very kind, but hard/honest woman. Esther, a true survivor of tragedy and persecution, very disfigured, was determined not to give in to her handicap, to past atrosities and determined to make a life where she was at any given moment. For me this was a powerful book and I will read it again. I loved Schmidt, the detective, as he processes information and his frustration when "it" just doesn't ring totally true, but his nature was to plow ahead for truth and the demand of the law. I know I missed some parts in the first reading as I had to find out what was happening. The mystery and thriller part intrigued me, and I think I did not do justice at times to the reality of the horror Germany had to live through. This is truly a story within a story showing the prewar Germany of 1922, of free living and tumbling into hunger, persecution, death. I am saddened that Ms. Frankling has left us. I have truly enjoyed her brand of story telling. C'est la vie

Set in Berlin during the early 1920's, the book opens with a curious scene of a young man crossing a bridge and observing a man pushing a woman into the river. Due to his situation of returning from a questionable activity, the young man decides not to report what he saw. This sets off a chain of events that drive the novel. The story then begins to focus on Esther, a Jewish refugee from Russia, who survived the pogroms, but with a scar to her face. She works as a secretary to a cabaret owner, "Prince" Nick, who uses her language and clerical skills to facilitate his licit and illicit business activities. She is reluctantly pulled into Nick's scheme of putting forward a mystery woman residing in an asylum as Grand Duchess Anastasia, daughter of Czar Nicolas II, purporting that she miraculously escaped the massacre of her family. Also pulled into the scheme is a dancer, Natalya, whose family served the Russian royalty and could help in coaching Anna in her role. Esther meets Inspector Schmidt when a violent attack occurs at the club. It becomes clear to Esther that the attack was related to Anna, and fit in with a pattern of appearances of a man while she was at the asylum. As Esther and Schmidt separately investigate a series of crimes trying to unravel the reasons behind the interest in Anna, tragedy hits with murder. Berlin is becoming a desperate place, and the rise of the Nazi movement is beginning. The tale twists and turns as they track back Anna's history and their fates become entwined. A twist at the end leads to some shocking conclusions and an encounter between Hitler, Anna/Anastasia, Esther, Schmidt and the killer on her trail.

Convoluted, intricate plot, with interesting characters and well described settings...well written, but it failed to engage my interest, mostly because it is such well travelled country...so much has been written and filmed, of those years and those people, the historical ones, that it is just the old ho-hum, here we go again reactions...the brave heroine, the twist at the end, the stalwart hero, the wicked monsters, the sad story and the horrifying history...a bad and scary tale, of inhumanity and evil...homo sapiens is not so sapient, is he?...read this when you feel up-beat and strong...not depressed or sad...

Set in a depressed pre-War Berlin, the writer weaves a web of stalking suspense, involving two main characters drawn together by their courage, sexual attraction, and a quest to find a psychotic murderer - who strips them both of people who become too close.Although in many ways a dark and terrible time, graphically narrated by this master of thrillers, she tempers the story with believable characters, witty dialogue and a rare talent for earthy comedy. Without giving away too much of the plot - the still unsolved mystery of the alleged Romanov survivors, especially the notorious "Grand Duchess Anastasia" is the weft and warp which binds the people (some real, some invented) in the plot together.We, the 21st Century readers, have the benefit of historical hindsight. The world then was ripe for revolution...German people had struggled through a War which had left them utterly dispirited; suspicious (as some folk are now) of immigrants fleeing from worst conditions in Russia, Poland and other Eastern block regimes. There were all the ills of deprivation for the less well-off: sickness, grief, starvation, racism... to name but a few.The power hungry Hitler and his SS henchmen exploited this, as well as devising their evil solution to anti-semetism - they were ruthless in their methods. Some of the events do seem far-fetched, but truth IS often stranger than fiction. The author has artist's licence to embellish where necessary......The writer gives an overview of the relentless overthrow of the "Old Law" to be replaced by another Law - much less to do with justice. A kind of justice does prevail...but it does leave you wondering about present events.I would recommend wearing gloves as you read this.....!!!

Loved all her Mistress of the Art of Death and other medieval period books - this one as far removed from the twelfth century as it is possible to get, but strangely, the heroines have similarities. I stretched reading this book out because I really didn’t want it to end. Riveting and chilling to the end. Downside? Too many F words, but they did come with the territory. If you can get past that, it is an excellent read.

I've read her previous historical murder novels set in medieval times and really enjoyed them, but was not looking forward as much to this one which is set in Weimar Germany [even though I am a History teacher]. However,I found it as fascinating and well researched as the others. She is a very good writer, probably because of her journalistic background, and does not use 14 words when three will do, or write pages of unnecessary description, feelings etc.In other words she tells a good story.

I hadn't read this Diana Norman novel but must say it's different from her usual but well worth the read. It would make a really good plot for a film.