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Rating: 
Summary: A must read
Review: Death in Berlin has all the Kaye trademarks: unusual settings, a beautiful enchanting heroine, and the typical hero - expressionless, indifferent, yet likeable. Somewhat. This book is a must read as the plot is intruiging, the style, as usual, is amazing.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent re-creation of postwar Berlin
Review: Death in Berlin takes the reader back to Berlin after the end of W.W.II via the heroine. A typically well written M.M. Kaye mystery, it immerses the reader in Berlin following the war, but before reconstruction. One can feel the grit and smell the dank concrete, overlain with soot and death. Ms. Kaye has the ability to convey the scenery and setting of her books so that the reader's senses are also involved in the story.
Rating:
Summary: Well-written Suspense
Review: M.M. Kaye's evocative writing style submerges the reader in her tale of murder and intrigue in 1950's Berlin. As with her other "Death" books, she gives us a cast of characters caught up in a series of murders as both victims and suspects rather than investigators, denying the reader any comforting distance from the unfolding tale. Miranda Brand, while a typical Kaye heroine in many respects (she's young, beautiful, british, fairly intelligent and trying to take a holiday), is more believable in her reactions to the events of the story than many of the other Kaye heroines. However, the success of this and the other "Death" novels for me does not hinge on the characters or even the intricacy of the mysteries, but on the atmosphere of suspense which permeates them. It is this atmosphere which causes me to reread them over and over. "Death in Berlin", with it's WWII backstory and grim scenery is among the best of the series. The other strength of these novels is their description of the society created by the families of British soldiers posted abroad. M.M. Kaye had ample experience as a child, a young woman, and a married adult in this social situation and she uses it with skill. I recommend "Death in Berlin" in particular, and the rest of the series in general, both for M.M. Kaye's amazing descriptive talents and for the wonderful glimpse into far-off places and times told by somebody who was there.
Rating:
Summary: Well-written Suspense
Review: M.M. Kaye's evocative writing style submerges the reader in her tale of murder and intrigue in 1950's Berlin. As with her other "Death" books, she gives us a cast of characters caught up in a series of murders as both victims and suspects rather than investigators, denying the reader any comforting distance from the unfolding tale. Miranda Brand, while a typical Kaye heroine in many respects (she's young, beautiful, british, fairly intelligent and trying to take a holiday), is more believable in her reactions to the events of the story than many of the other Kaye heroines. However, the success of this and the other "Death" novels for me does not hinge on the characters or even the intricacy of the mysteries, but on the atmosphere of suspense which permeates them. It is this atmosphere which causes me to reread them over and over. "Death in Berlin", with it's WWII backstory and grim scenery is among the best of the series. The other strength of these novels is their description of the society created by the families of British soldiers posted abroad. M.M. Kaye had ample experience as a child, a young woman, and a married adult in this social situation and she uses it with skill. I recommend "Death in Berlin" in particular, and the rest of the series in general, both for M.M. Kaye's amazing descriptive talents and for the wonderful glimpse into far-off places and times told by somebody who was there.
Rating:
Summary: Well-written Suspense
Review: M.M. Kaye's evocative writing style submerges the reader in her tale of murder and intrigue in 1950's Berlin. As with her other "Death" books, she gives us a cast of characters caught up in a series of murders as both victims and suspects rather than investigators, denying the reader any comforting distance from the unfolding tale. Miranda Brand, while a typical Kaye heroine in many respects (she's young, beautiful, british, fairly intelligent and trying to take a holiday), is more believable in her reactions to the events of the story than many of the other Kaye heroines. However, the success of this and the other "Death" novels for me does not hinge on the characters or even the intricacy of the mysteries, but on the atmosphere of suspense which permeates them. It is this atmosphere which causes me to reread them over and over. "Death in Berlin", with it's WWII backstory and grim scenery is among the best of the series. The other strength of these novels is their description of the society created by the families of British soldiers posted abroad. M.M. Kaye had ample experience as a child, a young woman, and a married adult in this social situation and she uses it with skill. I recommend "Death in Berlin" in particular, and the rest of the series in general, both for M.M. Kaye's amazing descriptive talents and for the wonderful glimpse into far-off places and times told by somebody who was there.
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