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by John Boyer Noss
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by Stan Armington
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by Bil Keane
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by Edgar Rice Burroughs
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(Larger Image)
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Death in Berlin
by M. M. Kaye
Product Group: Book
Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur (2000-06-08)
ISBN: 0312263082
EAN: 9780312263089
Dewy Decimal #: 823.914
Paperback: 272 pages
Edition: 1st
SKU: mon0000041061
Condition: Very Good
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
Miranda Brand is visiting Germany for what is supposed to be a month's vacation. But from the moment that Brigadier Brindley relates the story about a fortune in lost diamonds--a story in which Miranda herself figures in an unusual way--the vacation atmosphere becomes transformed into something more ominous. And when murder strikes on the night train to Berlin, Miranda finds herself unwillingly involved in a complex chain of events that will soon throw her own life into peril. Set against a background of war-scarred Berlin in the early 1950s, Death in Berlin is a consummate mystery from one of the finest storytellers of our time.
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Customer Reviews
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From the 1950's, but still fresh
Rating  (4)
Date: 2007-02-16
2 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
I didn't know anything about M.M. Kaye, and picked this book up at random while browsing at the library. As I started to read, I was impressed by the author's ability to create an authentic 1950's atmosphere-then I realized it WAS actually written in the early 50's. The book was on the library's "new release" shelf, so I had assumed it was by a modern writer. After laughing at my self, I sat down and read the rest of the book. It would have been worth reading for the author's firsthand observations of post-war Germany, but it was also quite successful as a suspense novel. The only weak point in the story is the characterization of the heroine Miranda, a young fashion model. She starts out as a bit of a stereotypical ingenue right out of a vintage ladies' magazine - the kind of feeble-minded beauty who screams and falls down while running out of a haunted mansion. Fortunately for the reader, Miranda soon begins to develop more depth,learns to decode the behavior of the older people around her, and ends up being fairly interesting in her own right.
The cover blurb compares the author to Agatha Christie, and I suppose that makes some sense,as both writers were British females who wrote mystery novels set in a British upper middle class milieu. But I didn't see much resemblance other than that. I never found any of Christie's characters believable, and her plots were fun but didn't seem to be occurring in the real world. By contrast, the characters in M.M. Kaye's book did seem real, and the suspense was created by an accumulation of small details that gradually work up to a sense of impending doom without ever seeming to go over the top. There were a few (rather annoying) Christie-like touches,with diguises and altered clocks,etc., but for the most part the story works because of the author's psychological insights into her characters' emotions and aspirations.
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A good time-pass
Rating  (3)
Date: 2005-11-28
2 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
The book feels trifle like Murder on Orient Express! But it is engrossing and the feeling of menace is captured quite efficiently by this writer! Funny too are the antics of the little boy!
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Dull in Berlin
Rating (3)
Date: 2005-05-15
3 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
I am a fan of MM Kaye but I must admit one of my least favourites is Death in Berlin - partly because the hero is particularly wooden even by MM Kaye standards and the heroine a little too unassuming. Even though Kaye was familiar with Berlin (Most of her settings are authentic -she actually lived in the places she wrote about) I feel that this book did not do justice to that great city. Death in Zanzibar, Death in Cyprus and Death in Kashmir are, in my opinion, her best Death in books and will be more appreciated by readers of modern romance.
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A must read
Rating  (5)
Date: 2002-05-24
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
Death in Berlin has all the Kaye trademarks: unusual settings, a beautiful enchanting heroine, and the typical hero - expressionless, indifferent, yet likeable. Somewhat. This book is a must read as the plot is intruiging, the style, as usual, is amazing.
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Well-written Suspense
Rating (5)
Date: 2000-07-16
15 out of 15 customers found this reveiw helpful
M.M. Kaye's evocative writing style submerges the reader in her tale of murder and intrigue in 1950's Berlin. As with her other "Death" books, she gives us a cast of characters caught up in a series of murders as both victims and suspects rather than investigators, denying the reader any comforting distance from the unfolding tale. Miranda Brand, while a typical Kaye heroine in many respects (she's young, beautiful, british, fairly intelligent and trying to take a holiday), is more believable in her reactions to the events of the story than many of the other Kaye heroines. However, the success of this and the other "Death" novels for me does not hinge on the characters or even the intricacy of the mysteries, but on the atmosphere of suspense which permeates them. It is this atmosphere which causes me to reread them over and over. "Death in Berlin", with it's WWII backstory and grim scenery is among the best of the series. The other strength of these novels is their description of the society created by the families of British soldiers posted abroad. M.M. Kaye had ample experience as a child, a young woman, and a married adult in this social situation and she uses it with skill. I recommend "Death in Berlin" in particular, and the rest of the series in general, both for M.M. Kaye's amazing descriptive talents and for the wonderful glimpse into far-off places and times told by somebody who was there.
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