The novel is enjoyable enough, good-quality airport fiction. But that's all it is, which is sad, because the early Bernie Gunther novels were so much more than that. ( )

Vuelve Bernie Gunther. Huyendo de una absurda acusación de criminal de guerra, dejará Berlín con destino a Buenos Aires. Es 1950 y su destino no es casual: una muchacha ha sido asesinada de forma espantosa al otro lado del Atlántico y el modus operandi lo enlaza con otro semejante en los últimos días de la República de Weimar. Y Gunther nunca se rinde.
Pero pronto descubrirá mucho más que el rastro del asesino y de otros muchos alemanes, la mayoría nazis que conoce muy bien: la colaboración que el régimen de Perón presta a los criminales del III Reich. Kerr presenta la quinta novela de su más famoso personaje: un veterano y ex policía, sensible, honesto, sardónico a veces, al que siguen millones de lectores en todo el mundo.

"A Quiet Flame" is the fifth title in Philip Kerr's series based on the character of Bernie Gunther, sometime Berlin homicide detective, incorporated into the SD (Gestapo) when the police were merged into the SD and later during World War II drafted into the SS. This novel picks up where "The One from the Other " leaves off.

Having been framed as a war criminal based on his close resemblance to the actual criminal, Gunther finds himself aboard the SS Giovanni disembarking in Argentina along with fellow emigres / escapees including one Adolf Eichmann. Upon landing Gunther is spirited away by organs of state security and driven to a face to face meeting with Juan Peron who is interested in Gunther's professional services as Dr. Carlos Hausner, Gunther's cover name. Gunther is forced to confess his real identity which apparently cools Peron's interest, but inspires Bernie's escort, one Colonel Montalban to offer Bernie a position within the SIAD, the Argentine Security and Intelligence Directorate. His mission is to track down the whereabouts of a teenage daughter of Kurt von Bader, friend of the Perons and director of the Banco Germanico in Buenos Aires. As part of the deal with Montalban, Bernie is provided access to all of his old case files from his detective days in Berlin. Among the files are the records of his investigation into a missing persons / murder investigation which bears a striking similarity to his new assignment in Argentina.

The action of the novel shifts from chapter to chapter from Buenos Aires in 1950 to Berlin in 1932-1933. As is the case with all of the Gunther novels the cast of characters is a mix of primarily fictitious persons and real life historical actors. In this installment the latter category is populated by Eichmann, Juan and Evita Peron, and Dr. Joseph Mengele. I won't divulge more of the action of the plot as I don't wish to be a spoiler. I will only observe that Gunther is drawn into a maze of characters in which he struggles to untangle a seemingly infinite series of knots to understand who is really who, what is their real stake in the results of his investigation and whose side they're on.

As is the case in all of his adventures featuring Bernie Gunther, Kerr's wit is given full rein and is razor sharp and simultaneously wielded as a blunt instrument on his characters. This is the ninth book in the series that I have read and as was the case with the previous eight I recommend "A Quiet Flame" to all lovers of detective fiction and historical fiction. ( )

I just cannot suspend my disbelief sufficiently to get pleasure from this oh-so-artificially constructed plot. ( )

Quite wide-ranging; linked murders from 1932 Berlin to 1950 Argentina. Works. Some goofy Raymond Chandler hard-boiled-private-eye dialog with beautiful young woman, but still a good handful of very moving vignettes, and wholly satisfying story. (I'm taking a break before moving on to #6.) ( )