The murder of her mentor compels a World War II agent out of the shadows and into danger.
1936. Journalist Hannah Vogel is in Berlin, ostensibly to cover the Summer Olympic Games for travel newspapers, but she's actually engaged in espionage. Under the name Adelheid Zinsli, she has become the lover of Lars Lang, an SS officer who, like her, is secretly working for the West...she thinks. They watch the opening ceremonies together in the massive Olympic Stadium. As Hitler struts triumphantly, Hannah plots to slip away from Lars so that she can meet her mentor, Peter Weill. Barely has Peter delivered his request that Hannah carry a certain valuable package out of the country than he collapses dead at her feet, presumably a victim of poison poured into the pocket flask he's always carried. Improvising quickly as a crowd that includes Lars gathers around her, Hannah identifies Peter as her father. Hannah's failure to tell Lars about her rendezvous with Peter drives a wedge into their relationship and adds a deeper layer of mistrust and danger as Hannah attempts to find the mysterious package and ferret out the identity of Peter's killer. Discovering Peter's secret notebook cleverly hidden in his umbrella sets her on a path that takes her deeper into the Gestapo and leads to a reunion with Boris, an ex-lover she realizes she's still in love with.
Hannah's third adventure (A Night of Long Knives, 2010, etc.) is an uneasy mix of romance, complicated thriller and mystery, greatly enhanced by the author's vivid portrait of prewar Berlin.
