Hugo-winner Kris Rusch departs from her usual science fiction to write a gripping crime novel set in Germany on the eve of Adolf Hitler’s ascension. This much is true: Hitler had an affair with his niece, Geli Raubal. On the night of September 19, 1931, Geli was found shot to death in Hitler’s apartment. Her death was ruled a suicide, but the suspicion of murder has remained. Rusch begins in Munich in 1972, when a young American woman criminologist comes to interview Fritz Stecher, one of Germany’s most famous detectives. Fritz wants only to tell the untold story of his investigation of Geli’s death. He begins in 1931, just before Hitler’s rise, when he could not have known that what he did would determine the course of history. Rusch’s taut, suspenseful novel is a fascinating exploration of the might-have-beens of this dark and fateful time.
“O’Malley narrates with expert intonation and inflection. Her reading in generally precise, intense, partially voiced, and pleasantly low-pitched. Her range of characters and emotions…comes across clearly and convincingly.” —Kliatt
