Murder mystery set in BERLIN

8th June 2020

Sisters of Berlin by Juliet Conlin, murder mystery set in Berlin.

Marie and Nina are two adult sisters and this is the story of their relationship and the secrets they hide. Early on in the book Marie is found bludgeoned to death and Nina is left to pick up the pieces.

Nina is in a lacklustre relationship with her husband Basti. She has two children and there are signs that she has her own demons to combat, which will be exacerbated by her sister’s death. She also runs a women’s medical clinic, which is teetering on the brink, but she is determined to plough on through thick and thin.

There are a couple of perpetrators in the frame but the police investigations are not going anywhere very fast. Who did kill Marie? Her husband is one suspect and comes under the murderer spotlight; then again, she is attacked by the abusive husband of one of her patients, another possible suspect.

Her parents are demanding that she acquiesce to their formal ways and her husband is becoming more and more dismissive and aggressive.

The story is mainly set in the early Winter of 2019, when the Germans are marking the Fall of the Wall 30 years ago. Part of the story looks back to the period prior to Fall, to the era of Stasi hegemony in East Berlin. It is refreshing to find a novel that is set in present day, as the setting of Berlin so often attracts writers who have the city as a backdrop to storylines set either in WW2 or the Communist period of the 60s/70s/80s when the city was divided into East and West.

Berlin itself is a character in the book. I love the notion of serendipity. I am writing this review in June 2020, when the UK is in lockdown due to the Coronavirus. At this time I would have anticipated being in Berlin. So, as a TripFiction aficionado, reading a novel set in the city is the next best thing to make up for being unable to visit. The book takes the reader to Zehlendorf, the Brandenburg Gate (of course!) and the book opens with the two sisters sitting on a crumbling balcony, overlooking Boxhagener Platz, the area where I stay when I visit. So it felt familiar and I could really imagine the scene, which, in turn brought the narrative to even more colourful life. A good read indeed!

Tina for the TripFiction Team

Buy Now

Catch Juliet on Twitter

Join Team TripFiction on Social Media:

Twitter (@TripFiction), Facebook (@TripFiction.Literarywanderlust), YouTube (TripFiction #Literarywanderlust), Instagram (@TripFiction) and Pinterest (@TripFiction)

Fancy more top titles set in BERLIN? Explore the TripFiction database

Subscribe to future blog posts