The Fatherland Files, Kutscher - B+

                  The fourth novel in the 'Babylon Berlin' series is an absolutely great police procedural and the best so far. It opens in the summer of 1932. Gereon is called to a nighttime murder in a downtown department store on the day he meets Charly upon her return from her legal studies in Paris.  She deftly defers an answer to his somewhat awkward marriage proposal, but only for a few days before she says yes. Charly reports to the Alex as a CID Cadet.  Chief Inspector Gennat sends her to Homicide on a temporary assignment to assist on the case Rath is working on, and when Gereon suggests they need someone to go undercover at the department store, Gennat recommends Charly.  It turns out that the deceased in Gereon's case was killed in a manner similar to two others, and all three were involved in a moonshine scandal in East Prussia years ago.  Gereon is sent east to investigate and suspects that he has found the connection, but can't quite sort it out. One conclusion though is obvious: that the local police are as corrupt as the day is long.  The key to the plot is found when the Berlin police realize that a witness to the murder in the department store was more that a bystander. Once again, the author blends a great story with a fascinating depiction of Prussia at a crucial time in its history, a time which saw the Nazi's step closer to power.