Silent Death, Kutscher - B

                  This is the second novel in the Babylon Berlin series and is set in 1930. Gereon is called out to an accidental death of a famous actress after a spotlight falls from the rafters in a movie studio and kills her. He concludes that the spotlight was manipulated to fail, and that it is a case of premeditated murder. The technician who is likely behind it is missing, as is a second famous actress. Soon thereafter, the technician plummets to his death from a very tall building. All conclude that it was suicide but Gereon is convinced he was pushed off. Then Homicide finds the second famous actress dead in an abandoned movie theater with her vocal cords removed. A third actress's body is found in another closed theater, also with her vocal cords gone. Gereon tries to convince all that the three are related, but no one at the Alex agrees with him. He's suspended for ongoing insubordination, but heads off to follow one more clue at Wannsee. There, he confronts the killer. This novel too is quite good, but unlike its predecessor, it is a straightforward police novel lacking just about any meaningful insights into the last years of Weimar.