Breslau was a German city on the border of Czechoslovakia. It is now, since World War II, Wroclaw, in Poland. Marek Krajewski has written a quartet of novels which unfold the history of this exceptional city, standing on the faultline and crossroads of 20th century Europe. In Breslau 1933: the mutilated body of a young woman, an aristocrat, is found dead on a train. Scorpions writhe in her slashed stomach - a horrifying image that becomes crucial to the investigation. Inspector Eberhard Mock is called in to deal with the case, and is assigned an assistant, Herbert Anwaldt, an orphan.The investigation leads them deep into the city's dirty underbelly, where perverted aristocrats cavort with prostitutes, corrupt ministers torture confessions from lowly Jews and Freemasons guard their secrets with blackmail and daggers. As Mock and Anwaldt unravel a mystery of ritual killing that dates back to the time of the Crusades, the elderly Mock and the young, fatherless Anwaldt become close. But the dark, occult aspect of this most macabre of cases, coupled with the heavy presence of Germany's secret police proves too much for Anwaldt's sanity.
What makes Krajewski's story so uncommonly powerful is the stifling atmosphere he conjures of a city in the grip of the Gestapo.
- ISBN10 1299571603
- ISBN13 9781299571600
- Publish Date 1 January 2012 (first published 6 March 2008)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 14 April 2015
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Melville House Publishing
- Format eBook
- Language English