Berlin in 1930s with a historical writer Archie, assisted by a young woman Esme as his secretary who has ambitions to be a foreign correspondent , researching the background to a general. Sidetracked in their task by witnessing a murder , they are sceptical of the assumption a young Jewish girl is the perpetrator and decide to carry out their own investigation. A good mix of historical facts of the period and clues to potential suspects. This murder mystery is supported with a sound foundation of the unusual relationship between the two protagonists for a crime investigation that entertains rather than gripping with any intensity.

I have read and enjoyed a number of this author’s previous books but I just could not get into Operation Berlin. It was very slow to really get going and the main characters weren’t great or engaging. The underlying story was only so so. The blurb likens it to Robert Harris and Alan Furst amongst others but having read both of the former it doesn’t match up to them in either style or content. So a disappointing read for me