I would like to thank Netgalley and Bonnier Zaffre for an advance copy of Stasi Winter, the fifth novel to feature DDR police major Karin Müller, set in 1979.

Having resigned from the police force Karin is coerced back into service to investigate the death of an unidentified woman on the island of Rügen on the North Sea, a place she has investigated before. It soon becomes apparent that the woman’s death is not the accident the State is claiming and, moreover, Karin recognises the victim.

I thoroughly enjoyed Stasi Winter which starts as a murder enquiry but soon develops into more of an adventure yarn on the frozen North Sea. The novel opens with Karin threatening to shoot a figure from her past, Irma Behrendt, and then backtracks to how they got to that situation. Told in the third person from Karin’s point of view and Irma’s first person account the novel paints a fascinating picture of the DDR at the height of its powers. The constant surveillance, the penalties for wrongdoing (although the definition of wrongdoing is very transactional) and the general sense of relentless fear pervade the novel, making it anything but cosy. And yet, it is not a depressing novel but rather full of hope and personal touches that defy the oppression.

Some parts of the novel, mostly the adventure elements, do require a certain amount of hard swallowing to accept but they are exciting and extremely atmospheric- the sense of fear on the ice is almost palpable, as is the power of nature. I liked the way the two women’s backstories gradually merge until the showdown brings them together. I really like that they are strong characters who aren’t perfect, have the ability to question their respective situations and take decisions based on emotion as much as fact. Of course, the State has its role to play in how they act and decide and it is a character on its own with its morally questionable decisions and decision makers. The last few pages really sum up the horror of life in the DDR and finish the novel in excellent style.

Stasi Winter is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

I have read the other books in the series and this was an easier story to get into. But the ending was a bit far fetched. Calling an ice breaker to cut off escapers? Perhaps it did happen in the cold war. Good read though