A good addition to the collection of books set in Berlin. I would look forward to the next installment.

I really wanted to like this book. Weimar Germany is one of my favourite places in history. So complex, so rich.
I even liked the first couple of chapters a lot, though come to the 16% mark in the novel, I still could say what the story was about and what the main character was up to. Only to discover in the next chapter that the person I thought was the main character really wasn't.
When the supposed mystery began, the plot started falling apart. There was no way to keep track of the main plot, mainly because it was quite difficult to say what the main plot was.
There was no sense of time and place. Apart from the German names, this could have been any place, and not even necessarily in the 1920s.
I came as far as the middle, but then I really couldn't stand the it anymore.
Such a pity.

Sometimes I see glowing reviews, and I think I must've read a different version of the book. Almost all the early reviews for The Good Cop offer high praise. Unfortunately, I can't join in. I can't even tell you one good thing, because I didn't like anything.

I'll summarize what I disliked: The characters are shallow, and devoid of personality and emotion. The plot is disorganized. The writing is dull. (I'm sorry, but it is.) And overall the story feel self-serving, with the author pushing his own agenda.

We have excessively long passages of dialogue with various characters debating politics, including statements like "make Germany great again" and "fake news" and blaming Jews and immigration for all their problems. Not only are these endless pages of dialogue dragged out and dull, but the speech pattern feels too modern. In fact, rather than pulling me in, all I thought was that the author wants us to compare Hitler to Trump. So, fine, write that book instead.

The story is supposed to be about a police detective trying to do the right thing within a department overrun by Nazis. It's really not. We don't see this detective investigating much at all. Instead, we spend a lot of time with a male artist and a female journalist who are trying to make people understand what Hitler is doing. That would have been okay, had either character been interesting or believable.

This book is quite short, at only 192 pages, and yet it covers a 26-year period of tumultuous history. The storyline jumps ahead years at a time. It's all shallow and I just wanted it over.

Fact and fiction blended together

Set in Munich, most of this historical thriller takes place during the years between the two world wars. It is a fascinating and informative read about what was going on in Germany at that time, as well as a great thriller.

Maximilian travels home to Munich from the battle grounds of the Great War. He finds work as an artist for a newspaper, and so becomes involved in observing the massive changes taking place in Germany at this time. He and his girlfriend Sophie become personally involved in the disruption and violence the Nazi party are bringing to the streets of Munich, and so meet Detective Willi Geismeier. The Detective has a high success rate in investigating crimes, but is latterly finding his efforts are being disrupted by every growing corruption.

This is a fascinating read about what was going on in Germany at the time of Hitler’s emergence, and how he succeeded in his quest for power. Willi Geismeier’s investigation of some crimes that involve Sophie and Maximilian are an integral part of the thriller, but for me the real interest are the historical facts, and the parallels with what is going on in the world today.

5*s from me for this thriller, where historical facts and fiction are blended perfectly.

The Good Cop is a book that holds up two things: meticulous detective work and painstaking journalism. Set in Munich between the wars, Steiner has written about the rise of Nazism from the point of view of the police force and the press. The book is just about 200 pages, but it is filled with so much. Great characters. Gripping Drama. A Call for Current Change.

Maximillian returns from The Great War without many marketable skills. He bounces around Munich doing what he can to make enough money to stave off hunger. Max finally shows some of his drawings to an editor of a paper and he is hired on to depict the lives of his fellow citizens… including the uprising of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party. He finds Sophie, a young journalist who too has been affected by the war. They become close, but it all changes when their newsroom is bombed and Sophie suffers a catastrophic injury.

Detective Willi Geismeier is a cop who can see through to the bullshit. The political scheming of his colleagues and the backroom deals that are happening all over the city. He knows that his investigations will get him in trouble, but he can’t stay away from the truth even after getting thrown off almost every important case he’s assigned to. Yet, he continues to have the best clearance record of any cop in the city. Willi is the one who comes up with the idea of having Max draw a likeness of the perpetrator of the newsroom bombing from a witness’s account. They have a suspect, and now a reason for that suspect to want revenge.

Rife with twists and linked with historical accuracies, The Good Cop is an absolute thrill ride. A large cast of characters flash about the pages, but with short chapters it is not hard to keep track of them. As the tension rises, even after Hilter is jailed, Willi and the others try to expose the constant slide of the country. Steiner comments in his author’s note about the importance of a free press and that being one of the reasons he chose to write this story. It is a completion of the arc and a not-so-subtle lesson from the past.

A gripping historical thriller that follows several admirable characters through the streets of a changing Munich.

5 out of 5 stars.

Thank you to Severn House and the author for an advanced copy for review.

The Good Cop begins in 1920 in Munich, Germany. After losing WWI the country is in turmoil. Corruption is rampant and people want a change. Adolph Hitler appears on the scene and he seems to be the answer, promising to make Germany great again.

Meanwhile, Willi Geismeier, a detective on the Munich police force, is trying to be a good cop, and Maximillian Wolf and Sophie Auerbach are trying to put their lives back together. Maximillian as an artist for a newspaper and Sophie as one of the paper’s reporters. They both find themselves in the middle of Germany’s political and social upheavals.

The Good Cop is a complex book. The writing is extraordinary and the characters are well-drawn and interesting. The story itself employs many historical facts and even dialogue from some of Hitler’s speeches, giving the reader a true sense of post-WWI Germany. Because of the historical background, it also gave me a chilling sense of a history that is repeating itself. The rise of a temperamental and fanatical leader, determined to gain complete control, can only remind the reader of today’s political situation and the dangers our democracies face.

Peter Steiner is a multi-talented author, with a true gift of storytelling. Even though The Good Cop hits uncomfortably close to home and reminds us that our freedoms should never be taken for granted, it is a timely book that we should all pay attention to.

This is the first book I have read by this author, but I don’t intend for it to be the last. Thank you, Mr Steiner, for writing a book that is compelling, thought-provoking and entertaining – a combination that is hard to find.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

One of the best books i read this year!
The Good Cop looks at the rise of the Nationalist Socialist party in Germany, a fascinating account of the rise of Nazism in the 1920's. Through the eyes of Willi Geismeier, a police officer, we see how Hitler gathers support and finally gains power in the Reichstag. Initially dismissed as a joke Hitler becomes the Nazi leader whom's promise to the german people is to restore Germany in its former glory.
Altough this book begins at the end of WWI and centers in Munich Germany, it is not about the horrors of war. It is more about what can happen when freedom of press is undermined by politicians agendas.
Labelled historical fiction, much of the story is based on fact. The author Peter Steiner succeed by turning a straightforward crime novel into a warning from history. If we do not learn from our mistakes, history has a nasty habit of repeating itself.
Absolutely recommended read!

Peter Steiner has given us a work of Historical Fiction with a lot of truth in the mix. 

WWI has been lost. Germany is in chaos and the new government isn't anything to brag about. Everyone is in some way corrupted. Detective Willi Geismeier has a front-row seat to the rise of Adolph Hitler.

You have Fascism and Communism and violence everywhere. This is a country that needs a leader desperately. Unfortunately, that leader comes in the shape of Adolph Hitler. Everything is politicized and investigations of crimes become impossible. 

We also have the viewpoints of Maximillian and his wife, Sophie, a reporter. Together they will fight to stay alive, knowing that things are not going to end well for many.

This was a historical fiction story with a whole lot of truth behind it. It moved fast and I really enjoyed seeing Munich in the 1920s through the eyes of those who were there. Good plot, good characters, and a fast pace. Well Done!

NetGalley Reviews/ Severn House  September 3rd, 2019

Interesting story of a German police officer- Willi- who befriends two journalists harmed when their Munich newspaper is bombed for criticizing Hitler, whose star is ascendent. Set in 1920s Germany, this is as much about how Hitler rose to power and corrupted minds as it is about the mystery. Willi's a good character, the plot moves quickly, and it covers some unique territory in the genre. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. I'd not read Steiner before but I'll look for him again.

Peter Steiner has written a captivating and engrossing historical mystery thriller with The Good Cop. A recommended read!

Peter Steiner’s The Good Cop looks at the rise of the National Socialist party in Germany through the eyes of policeman Willi Geismeier, artist Maximilian and his wife Sophie, a news reporter. After WWI Maximilian finds work at the Munich Post, providing sketches to accompany the news articles. Assigned to accompany Sophie to political meetings, they are witness to Hitler’s early speeches. When the Post takes a stand against Hitler and his politics it comes under attack and Sophie is injured. It is Willi Geismeier who investigates the attack and befriends Maximilian and Sophie in the process.

Willi is a good cop. He witnesses the changes in his department as his fellow officers join the party to advance their careers. Willi is called off the investigation and later demoted when he continues seeking answers on his own. A decorated officer with the highest rate of solving crimes, he is assigned to the records department but Willi finds a way to use this assignment to his advantage.

Willi’s occasional dinners with a diverse group of friends reveals their opinions on the economy and Germany’s political situation. None of them believe that Hitler will succeed in his quest for power. The one exception is a Swedish diplomat who views the situation as an outsider. The story takes the people of Munich through Hitler’s rise to Chancellor before revealing the fates of his characters at the end of the war. It is a tale of one man’s resistance to the rise of evil and a fascinating look at the time.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Severn House for providing a copy of this book for my review.

This novel is a cautionary tail about what can happen when freedom of the press is undermined by politicians pushing agendas. Although this book begins at the end of World War I and centers in Munich, Germany, it is not a book that tracks a group through the horrors of war.

Willi Geismeier is a dedicated and much decorated detective in the Munich police department. Maximillian Wolf returns from WWI and secures a job drawing pictures for a liberal leaning newspaper editor in the age before professional news photography. Not long after, the publisher of the newspaper and the editor are at loggerheads over the rise in nationalism and, specifically, their depiction of Adolf Hitler. Wolf often accompanies a news journalist, Sophie, to draw pictures of stories she is writing and romance follows.

The newspaper is a flash point for the rise of fascism and as violence escalates, a molotov cocktail is thrown through the door of the newspaper. It is this bombing which makes allies and friends of Willi, Sophie and Maximillian. As Hitler's loyalists take on more and more duties of the police, Willi is demoted repeatedly but keeps up his investigations until he is finally given what his superiors believe to be a humiliation but to Willi becomes the motherlode of information - the records room.

When war breaks out, Willi is not only fired but pursued by the SS. When he survives Willi is able to bring some justice to former Nazi's who are hiding in plain sight. The author quotes Adolf Hitler many times and any reader will recognize some of the direct quotes and accusations from the past couple of years from a contemporary source.

A fascinating account of the rise of Nazism in the 1920's as seen through the eyes of a German police officer. Although labelled historical fiction, much of this story is based on fact, right down to quotes from speeches by Adolf Hitler. We learn how the Nazi leader, initially dismissed as a joke, gradually gathers popular support and finally gains power in the Reichstag (Germany's Parliament). Throughout the 1920's he grew from beer cellar rabble rouser to becoming Chancellor of Germany in 1933. Throughout that time, the Nazis used violence and intimidation as background to their leader's stirring nationalist speeches detailing how he would return Germany to its former glories.
The story opens with Maximilian Wolf returning home to Munich at the end of World War One. A gifted artist, he is employed by a Munich newspaper where he meets a female reporter, Sophie and the two cover the politics of 1920's Munich, with Sophie's stories illustrated by Max's sketches.
The bombing of the editorial offices of the Munich Post leads Max and Sophie to encounter Munich Detective Willi Geismeier, who's no ordinary policeman. Willi is "the good cop" who realises that Germany's rule of law is now firmly enmeshed in the country's politics. Many of Willi's colleagues become Nazi party members, even joining the Sturmabteilung (SA) and Schutzstaffel (SS), the party's paramilitary wings, in order to further their careers.
In real life, the Munich Post was described by Hitler as "the poison kitchen",("Giftküche") as it repeatedly warned of the dangers of Nazism. Behind the scenes, Willi Geismeier gathers evidence of criminal acts carried out by the Nazis in a bid to halt their worst excesses.
The story is peopled by a variety of characters, many of them drawn from real life, which serves to heighten the drama as Willi's pursuit of truth and justice puts himself and those close to him in deadly danger.
The author, Peter Steiner, has turned a seemingly straightforward crime novel into a warning from history that, unless we learn from past mistakes, history has a nasty habit of repeating itself.