New life

There's been quite a plethora of books, principally thrillers, recently set in Germany before and just after the war beginning with David Downing's Station series. More recently I've also read Ferdinand von Schirach's The Collini case, Cay Rademacher's The murderer in ruins, and Restitution by Eliza Graham. The spring of Kasper Meier by Ben Fergusson is another novel set in post-war Germany with shades of Graham Greene's The third man. 

The eponymous hero, Kasper Meier, is a black marketeer in 1946 Berlin struggling to hold a life together for himself and his elderly father. Neither man was a fan of the Nazis. Kasper especially was lucky to survive the war. As a homosexual his life even in post-war Berlin is not easy, though it is better than it was during the Nazi era, when his lover Philip was murdered by thugs. Since Philip's death Kasper has been incomplete, his only reason for living to care for his aged father. And then a woman, Eva, unexpectedly comes into his life.

Knowing that Meier is good at finding out anything Eva asks for his help to find a British pilot who has gone missing leaving a pregnant German girl behind. As Kasper delves deeper into the mystery he becomes increasingly uncomfortable as he discovers that Allied servicemen are being murdered, and that Eva is evidently in some kind of trouble that may be connected to the same sinister plot. Can Kasper save himself? Can he save Eva?

This was a really good thriller. Fergusson captures the claustrophobic atmosphere of post-war Berlin adroitly. His characters (especially the central ones of Kasper and Eva) are well formed. And with many a twist and turn he keeps the reader hooked till the last page. I was only sorry that there was such a definite ending to the story as I would have loved another Kasper Meier book.

It was good to have such an authentic voice telling the story, as well as a wonderfully atmospheric read. The spring of Kasper Meier may not have been set during the war, but war and its repercussions permeate every page, as seemingly ordinary people do extraordinary and sometimes horrible things as a result of their wartime experiences. An amazing first novel, that richly deserves the many prizes it has garnered.