Bernie Gunther is now living in Dachau, outside Munich, running his father-in-law's, now deceased, hotel. But business is very slow to non-existent. His wife is in a hospital following a nervous breakdown after her father's death. So, he decides to go back to what he knows best, being a private detective and sets up an office in central Munich.

Being 1949 there are a lot of missing people in occupied Germany and this is why his first clients hire him. Trying to find the missing is not easy, especially when they don't want to be found, like former SS officers who have avoided being captured by the victors. And then sometimes, you ask the wrong person the wrong question.

An enjoyable and informative read about live at the time of the forming the German Federal Republic, West Germany, and the hardships faced by the defeated. It doesn't avoid covering the horrors of war and death of millions, but these are facts of history.

The ending is a set up for the next book in the series and I look forward to reading.