Nemesis is the fourth novel in Patricia Wolf’s Detective Lucas Walker series, and Wolf shows no sign of slowing down or producing a novel unworthy of attention. Nemesis also reintroduces characters and plot points from earlier entries in the series.

In Nemesis, Walker has gathered intelligence that Stefan Markovich, a member of the Vandals motorcycle gang, is believed to be in Berlin, Germany. Walker arranges a trip to Germany under the guise of attending a professional conference, though his true aim is to bring Markovich to justice.

The trip also allows Walker to reconnect with Berlin Detective Barbara Guerra, introduced in Opal. The two share a genuine attraction that deepens with each encounter.

Upon his arrival, Berlin police officers are skeptical of Walker’s claim that Markovich is in the city. They treat him with condescension and dismiss his concerns, even when he suggests that Markovich is responsible for a violent, drive-by shooting that injured innocent bystanders.

Meanwhile, Guerra is conducting a murder investigation of her own. A body has been discovered in an unmoored boat at a rundown lakeside cabin retreat. As she follows the clues, Guerra encounters a cast of distinctive individuals—some of whom may be dangerous—expanding her list of suspects.

Soon, more bodies turn up, and the case grows increasingly complex and perilous.

With two compelling investigations unfolding in tandem, Wolf keeps readers engaged—even though the story has moved beyond Australia—without missing a beat in her signature storytelling style.

Nemesis is a finely crafted novel, highly recommended not only for fans of Wolf’s previous work, but also for readers who appreciate smooth, suspenseful storytelling with well-developed characters. Fans of Garry Disher, Chris Hammer, and Jane Harper will find much to admire here.

Nemesis is scheduled for publication on June 10, 2025. Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This review was originally published at MysteryandSuspence.com.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

DS Lucas Walker is back, luckily for us - and Patricia Wolfe’s "Nemesis" is a captivating novel that demands reckoning.

A high-stakes psychological thriller, this story grips its audience with an unnerving blend of moral ambiguity and intricate plotting. From its opening pages, Wolfe refuses to provide easy answers, crafting a narrative that is as intellectually complex as it is emotionally charged.

"Nemesis" explores power—how it is wielded, manipulated, and ultimately turned against those who believe themselves in control. The protagonist, a sharp yet deeply flawed individual, navigates a labyrinth of deception where trust is a currency as volatile as the truth itself. Wolfe’s talent lies not just in pacing, which is razor-sharp, but in her ability to construct layered relationships that oscillate between genuine connection and ominous intent.

The novel’s atmosphere is suffocating in the best way possible, wrapping the reader in a relentless tension that never truly dissipates, even in its quietest moments. Wolfe’s prose—precise, almost surgical—adds to this effect, ensuring that no sentence is wasted. Every scene, every exchange, feels intentional, pressing forward with a force that makes it impossible to put the book down.

For those who appreciate thrillers that challenge conventional morality and invite introspection, *Nemesis* is an engrossing, thought-provoking read. It is not content with surface-level suspense; instead, it constructs a world in which justice, revenge, and consequence intertwine in ways that leave lasting impressions. Wolfe’s ability to balance complexity with accessibility makes this novel both a gripping experience ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐from this reviewer.

If you haven't read Patricia Wolfe's DS Walker series and you are a police procedural fan, you are missing something special.

Lucas Walker is changing jobs, but it doing one last job for his old boss while on the way to a conference in the Netherlands for the new role. Stefan Markovich is known to be in Berlin and Lucas wants to bring him in. Whilst there he catches up with Barbara and her family. She is dealing with a strange murder at the lakeside near to the family home.
It's nice to see Lucas away from his comfort zone and how he deals with it. Hopefully we will get more Lucas ? Barbara?

This is the 4th book in the series, DS Walker hears that Markovich is now in Berlin and persuades his boss that he should go undercover to catch him, he can combine this with a visit to his friend Barbara, who is in the Berlin police.
However the Berlin police do not seem to think Markovich is high profile so are unwilling to help and Barbara has her own murder case to solve. Walker is on his own.
Although the story moves along I felt it lacked the drive and spark of previous books. Still a good read though.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc.

The 4th book now in the DS Lucas Walker series, those who are new to it might need a tiny bit of background. Walker is with the Australian Federal Police, but it was on his personal home territory, in outback Australia where he first met Barbara (in book one to be precise), when she heads from her native Germany to the area to look for her missing sister. Long story short, her sister endured an horrific experience, but survived, there was the spark of something between Walker and Barbara, and their lives moved on. Having kept in touch since that time, it's NEMESIS now that brings them back together on Barbara's home territory, in Berlin. She's working a mysterious multiple murder by plant toxins at a collection of rustic cabins lakeside, out of Berlin, and he's in town to try to catch the bikie Stefan Markovich that was also part of the earlier storyline.

Is this therefore a novel that won't work as a standalone? Not if you crave the full backstory to Barbara and Rita's ordeal, and Walker's involvement. If you're happy to let a lot of that just be, then yes, because the personal romantic tension / will they / won't they is a big part of this outing, as is Barbara's local case. It might help to have read the earlier books as well as the "fish out of water" aspects of this are tipped on their head here - deliberately - and there's a bit of a gotcha there in who handles what best.

But, Walker's in Berlin because the notorious Vandals motorcycle club leader Stefan Markovich has been tracked there. The whys and wherefore's of that are laid out at the start of the book, and then the action switches to the death of a man that is eluded to in the prologue. In an idyllic, rustic settlement made up of small off-grid cabins, a man dies horribly from a poisoning that is eventually identified as a plant based toxin. There are then more poisonings, and a local police service more than keen to make sure the Berlin incomers take the blame, rather than the local weirdo stalking around in the bushes. Meanwhile there's a developing romance between Barbara's sister Rita and her local offsider cop, and the will they / won't they thread around Barbara and Lucas. So quite a bit going on.

The local investigation is interesting, and it was great to get to "see" Barbara on her home turf, determined to solve this case in the light of feeling very much like her bosses don't appreciate her. Meanwhile Lucas is lurking alone, around the streets of Berlin, a country where he can't speak the language, with a cover story of being a forger, trying to flush Markovich in the face of a lot of disinterest from local police until a drive-by shooting is linked in, which leads to a bit more co-operation. To be honest a lot of the reasons for Lucas being in Berlin and the whole chasing Markovich thing didn't quite jell, it all felt a bit "hammered" into place to get Lucas to Berlin on any pretext so the relationship between the two could be explored. At one point I thought well just have him show up on a holiday and a romance fishing expedition - that would have worked as well, and not have had to led to some slightly distracting goings-on at one point around Barbara, and a final "storyline" which whilst had a bit of crash bang excitement about it, felt a bit plopped into place.

Which all makes this sound like the book wasn't an enjoyable read, which is unfair, because in most things it was. As a reader of the first couple of books, it was almost expected that there would be something between Lucas and Barbara and pushing that fish out of water angle to the other side was worthwhile. Her local investigation was also really well done, the use of plant based poisons really well explored, and the sense of place of those murders really strong.

Having said all of that, NEMESIS is definitely going to be a police procedural designed for people who like a hefty dose of tortured romantic attachment thrown in.

🌏Aussie cop determined to get his man!🌍

4.5🌟 stars
I began reading this series for the Australian setting but now DS Luke Walker, his cases and colleagues, have me hooked no matter the story's locale! Walker is off to Germany to nab his criminal nemesis Markovich and his case nicely gets him back together with German colleague Barbara whose backpacking sister he helped rescue in the first book in the series.

Walker the dyed in the wool Australian has never been to Europe and I liked viewing Berlin through his eyes. His case was suspenseful, though a lot of wait for Markovich to make his move. I found Barbara's case of a string of suspicious lakeside deaths had me engrossed and I did not want to put the story down. The writing is very straightforward, no embellishment, just a great plot that keeps moving at a good pace with action and danger to make the climax exciting.

I need more from this author!

Thanks to Embla Books and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

Review shared on 6/3/25 on Waterstones and Goodreads and with Barnes & Noble. To be shared with kobo and Google Play upon publication.

The fourth in the series, Lucas Walker is back and still on the trail of Stefan Markovich, but this time in Berlin. This ties in beautifully with the opportunity to meet up with Barbara, his friend from earlier in the series who is dealing with a particularly nasty killer there. The plot was well paced & the setting atmospheric. I confess to being more interested in the Berlin murders than whether Lucas got his man or not. Saying that, I really enjoyed the latest in what has been an excellent series.

What a great pleasure to black in the company of DS Lucas Walker in this fourth book in the series. Lucas is finally certain he knows where his nemesis Markovich is hiding and he heads off to Berlin to capture this violent thug. Of course, also in Berlin is fellow detective Barbara, who Lucas is very keen to see again, having worked with her on. a previous case. It's good to get to know Barbara better, and the narrative has an almost equal focus on the two characters as their relationship develops. This book has it all - police procedure, crime, romance, a very fine sense of place and a continuing story that can happily be read on its own. However, if you haven’t read the first three books in the series, you're missing out on some exceptional writing and stories, so read those first!

loved the fourth book DS Walker 4 there is a body is found poisoning and drug crime in berlin were there trying to find the people who did it and finding the drug dealers
exciting good pace
loved the book
thanks

If you like Jane Harper, then Patricia Wolf should be on your reading list too. A couple of police procedural here woven together and taking place in Berlin. Unusual to find an author who writes so vividly when setting the scenes in regional, rural and outback Australia, is equally at home when transplanting her central protagonists to Europe. A quick Google reveals that the Author now lives part time in the Eu. Excellent characters, plotting and more than a couple of well hidden twists. Highly recommended.

DI Lucas Walker is in Berlin for his latest case, tracking down the leader of the Vandals biker gang featured in previous books. It also gives a chance to meet Barbara again, who works for the German police and is investigating a murder by poisoning.

Patricia Wolf is a talented author crafting two plots together, with the ongoing will they, won't they possible romance between the two lead characters. Fear not though fellow crime fiction fans as this is no Mills & Boon romantic twaddle!

Loving this series and looking forward to reading more of Lucas Walker's cases.

This eARC was received from Netgalley.com, and I am providing an unbiased review.

This is the fourth book in the DS Walker series, and there is a bit of a twist. Walker is working on doing a transfer within the force, but before he can work it all out, he receives information on the Vandals leader he has been searching for. Turns out he is in Germany, and whilst working out a deal between his current boss, and the new one, Walker manages to get a trip to Germany to assist with the capture of the Vandals leader. This brings in to play the lady Barbara, whom he had happened to help locate her sister in a previous book.

Though the romance seems to go no where throughout the story, it moves along. The German police don't seem to want to assist, Barbara (also an officer) is working her own murder case, and somehow it gets to where they are sharing the details with each other as if with only Walker's help could she solve it.

Truthfully, I enjoyed there being another DS Walker book, but this one seemed pretty boring. I felt it just stagnated and the ending was not as impressive as it may have been. Still would like to see if this series could go farther, now that Walker has transferred depts.

Having devoured the previous four books in Patricia Wolf’s DS Walker series, I was absolutely delighted to receive an ARC of Nemesis from NetGalley—and it delivered on every level.

In this fifth instalment, DS Luke Walker heads to Berlin in pursuit of the elusive Stefan Markovich, whose ability to slip through the net has haunted the series from the start. The shift in location brings a fresh energy to the series, and Walker’s reunion with Barbara adds both depth and intrigue—not just professionally, but perhaps personally too.

Barbara, meanwhile, is faced with a chilling poisoning case involving someone with an unnerving grasp of botanical toxins. As a biologist, I particularly enjoyed the forensic and scientific elements woven through the plot—they were sharp, well-researched, and added a layer of realism that elevated the narrative.

What impressed me most was how seamlessly the dual plotlines wove together. Both threads were compelling in their own right, and when they finally collided, the payoff was excellent. The pacing was spot on, the twists believable, and the characters—especially Walker and Barbara—continue to feel authentic and evolving.

I finished Nemesis in a single weekend, completely hooked from start to finish. Patricia Wolf has once again crafted a smart, gripping thriller that keeps you guessing—and I can’t wait to see where she takes DS Walker next.

I absolutely adored this book and devoured it over a couple of days! It has easily been one of my favourite books of the year and I can’t wait to read more from the author in the future.

Nemesis by Patricia Wolf is the fourth instalment in the DS Lucas Walker series. Walker is a detective in the Australian Federal Police and is still on a mission to bring Vandals biker gang leader Stefan Markovich to justice. Markovich has been sighted in Germany and Walker travels to Berlin to arrest him.

As with the other books in the series, Nemesis is a pacy read. I particularly enjoyed this book as Markovich is in Berlin and he’s trying to work undercover, but he’s in a city and country that he’s unfamiliar with. I enjoyed the element of him being slightly on the back foot and being a fish out of water.

Whilst in Berlin, he catches up with Barbara, who is a German police officer. They met in book one when Walker investigated Barbara’s sisters disappearance in the Australian Outback. Barbara travelled to Caloodie in the Outback and assisted in investigating her disappearance. It was interesting to read and see whether the connection they both felt in book one was still there.

I can’t wait for the fifth instalment of this series!

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, Embla Books, for making the e-ARC available to me in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Nemesis is the fourth installment in the DS Walker thriller series. I’ve enjoyed all the books so far in this series but I liked this one the least. This book is set in Berlin Germany and all the previous books in this series take place in Australia. A character from the first book, Barbara, is back in this book as the main character. There are two mysterious going on. Barbara is working on a murder that happed in a suburb of Berlin and DS Walker is in Berlin working on catching a drug ring leader from Australia who is hiding in Berlin. This book wasn’t as gripping to me and felt slow. Still, I feel the writing is good and maybe my expectations were too high against the authors other books that I couldn’t put down.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

I love the writing style and love this series. So happy to see Lucas and Barbara back together - the simmering romance along with the mysteries kept this moving at a fast pace. I didn't particularly like the setting of Berlin in this one, although the author does a fantastic job of making you feel like you're there. I hope the next one will be back in Australia. The Lucas/Markovich part of the story came together a little too easily, and some aspects of that case were a bit unresolved, but perhaps that will continue in book 5. I'm already looking forward to it. Highly recommend this author.

⭐️⭐️⭐️½ –
Nemesis, the fourth book in Patricia Wolf’s DS Lucas Walker series, delivers another high-stakes pursuit with emotional weight, but doesn’t quite reach the same atmospheric heights as the earlier instalments.

Lucas is on assignment with the AFP in Berlin, chasing down his longtime enemy Stefan Markovich—the drug kingpin who nearly had him killed. It's personal, and it's possibly Lucas’s last chance to bring him to justice. Meanwhile, Barbara is drawn into a chilling murder investigation at a lakeside colony, where victims suffer a slow, torturous death. As their cases collide, so do their unresolved feelings for each other, in a story that’s equal parts procedural and emotional reckoning.

I’ve loved this series since the beginning, so I was thrilled to receive an ARC—Nemesis is absolutely one I would’ve bought myself. We finally get a long-awaited reunion between Lucas and Barbara (since the end of Book 1!), but it didn’t quite deliver the closure I’d hoped for. There’s undeniable romantic longing—some of it breathtaking—but the “will they/won’t they” dynamic is still frustratingly unresolved.

One of my favourite aspects of the series has always been the vivid settings. That felt missing here. I struggled to visualise the lakeside colony, and the German setting as a whole lacked the immersive detail we saw in previous books. A bit of context around the German legal system (like formal accusations, the prosecutor’s role, etc.) would’ve helped deepen the narrative.

The Stasi angle was a fascinating touch—but only briefly explored—and I really wish it had been given more weight. A refresher on the Lucas/Markovich backstory would’ve been useful too. It’s been a while since Book 1, and the details felt a little fuzzy.

Also, things fell a bit too neatly into place: Markovich just happens to be in Berlin, just happens to be connected to Barbara’s case, and Lucas conveniently gets the green light to go investigate. That said, I’m always happy to read about Lucas—though I missed Ginger’s presence! I’m also intrigued to see where the new counterterrorism angle leads in future books.

📚 Thank you to Patricia Wolf, Embla Books and NetGalley for the ARC!

I was excited to read this fresh instalment of Patricia Wolf’s exquisitely written Lucas Walker series. I particularly like the social conscience that infuses her writing, her world-building and the overarching storyline of the series. In Nemesis, Lucas is in Berlin, once again trying to track down his nemesis, Markovich. Of course, this means a welcome reconnection with Barbara. We readers are following two cases as alongside Lucas's investigation, Barbara is investigating a spate of poisonings at a schrebergarten outside of Berlin. Patricia Wolf is fabulous with setting - her descriptions of Berlin's inner suburbs are vividly rendered. There’s so much romantic longing too. It takes your breath away at moments in the book. For all that Lucas and Barbara are risk takers in their professional lives, they find romantic courage more difficult .

I am so sad I have already finished this book and hope Patricia is writing another one.

Australian gang leader Stefan Markovich is still being followed by DS Lucas Walker. Now, undercover as a forger, Lucas has pursued him to Berlin where he hopes to finally arrest him.
Coincidentally, Detective Barbara Guerra lives and works in Berlin. Lucas and Barbara have been fighting a strong attraction to each other since they met in Australia when Lucas worked on a case that was personal to Barbara. The attraction is still there but both are immersed in police work. Lucas is trying to set up an appointment with Markovich while Barbara is handling a complicated case in a small lakeside colony outside Berlin. One deadly poisoning is quickly followed by another and Barbara is frustrated by the lack of support from her department. Their stories alternate until a near tragedy brings them together. Will distance will separate them again?

The sixth in a series by Patricia Wolf, Nemesis features strong characters, and a carefully constructed plot. Berlin provides a new, gritty location for the series and a chance for Barbara to show Lucas her hometown, so far away from his. The title Nemesis links both cases in a clever, understated way. I cant wait for the next in this series. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Embla Books and Patricia Wolf for this ARC.