Operation Berlin is the first of a new historical mystery series set in 1930s Europe which is to be known as The Foreign Correspondent series. Its author is Michael Ridpath, an extremely accomplished one, several of whose previous books I have read and enjoyed. I believe this is something of a new direction for him. He has created a couple of oddball but engaging characters turned amateur detectives. Esme Carmichael is a feisty young American woman with ambitions to become a foreign correspondent (hence the series title), while Archie Laverick is a well-off part-time historian who had a very rough time in WW1, was severely injured, and who has not surprisingly been severely affected by those wartime experiences.

The two protagonists meet up in Berlin in the summer of 1930, during the dying days of the Weimar Republic. The Nazis are on the rise and Adolf Hitler is only three years from power. Esme is staying with an old college friend who is the daughter of a senior American diplomat. While struggling to obtain journalistic opportunities in Berlin, she  takes a short-term job as secretary to Laverick, who is in Germany researching a book on the famous 18th century Prussian General von Blücher. They get to know an intriguing mix of locals – aristocrats, diplomats, journalists, politicians, civil servants. In between travelling around the country on research trips with her new boss Archie, Esme tries to make the best of her new connections. Eventually she even manages to bag herself an interview with Hitler, after an initial hiccup, gets the piece published in a newspaper back in the US.

On a weekend trip to a German castle, a gunshot murder takes place right in front of Esme in the castle grounds. The young victim is known to her and the murder seems quite inexplicable. The local police, influenced by the political powers that be, try to pin the murder on a young Jewish woman who has had the bad luck to be seen in the area at the time of the crime. Esme does not believe the woman to be guilty and persuades Archie likewise. The scene is set for some sharp amateur detection.

I won’t give out any more plot details. I’ll just say how much I enjoyed the story. The author’s characterisation is deft, his pacing perfect and I was gripped throughout. The subsequent books in the series are to be set in other major European capitals. The second book is to be Operation Vienna, set in 1931, and the third Operation Paris, set in 1932. There is also a short novella set in Berlin officially coming out later this year called Operation Lost Hours, but you can download this for free now if you go to the author’s website.

I look forward very much to reading more about the sleuthing adventures of Esme Carmichael and Archie Laverick.