An exuberant novel set in 1961 Berlin – Cautious Carla and Wild Wallie

• Book: Nightingale and Co
• Location: Berlin
• Author: Charlotte Printz, Marina Sofia (Translator)

Review Author: Tina Hartas

Nightingale & Co is the first in a cozy mystery series penned by Charlotte Printz, translated by Marina Sofia. I took this with me on a visit to Berlin – because that is what we do  – and enjoyed the rambunctious storyline. Carla is now running the PI agency (Nightingale & Co) after the death of her father and she is a very punctilious and careful person. Then Wallie bursts into her life, who is fleeing from East to West Berlin as the city is being divided into two halves, asking for succour from Carla, who is her half sister. Carla has no knowledge of Wallie’s existence and thus the author sets up a tense scenario between the siblings, as Wallie embeds herself in the agency’s work.

Layered over that is the story of the city as it endures its division and trauma. And above all are the various cases with which the agency is dealing and each woman’s approach to sleuthing is clearly very different. Cautious Carla as opposed to Wild Wallie – each sets out in her inimitable way to assist the people looking for help. One woman is in a domestically abusive relationship and it is sobering to think back then that women really had to put up and shut up, with no real recourse to help. Her husband is found dead, however, and there is anxiety that Wallie’s investigative involvement with him (which went a little beyond the call of duty) will lead investigators to the agency. Further cases take up the women’s time, the author enthusiastically hopping around between the different scenarios in order to tie up loose ends where possible.

I enjoyed the novel and its translation. However, Aunt Lulu calls her niece Carla “Kind” (as it would appear in the original German), which is a common way for a senior family member to authoritatively address junior members. Here in the English, the translator uses the literal translation of “child” which doesn’t have the same connotation in English and sounds a bit odd – I do therefore  wonder if something like “dear” might have worked better and sounded more authentic?

Overall the novel bounced around, and at times it is easy to get caught up in the sheer enthusiasm of the storytelling; at other times it is a little hard to follow.

A nice story of time and place, Berlin certainly comes to vibrant life.

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