The second in a series and while it had been awhile since I read the first book, the author easily brought the reader up to speed to four years later when this book begins and Hanni Winter is headed to a photography job of an American pilot, Tony Miller when another mystery falls in her lap and she is back working with Freddy and trying to use her photography to help solve a mystery as unfortunately dead bodies keep showing up.

A serial killer keeps leaving dead bodies behind and with a few trademarks that will eventually help Freddy and Hanni get to the bottom of the mystery. For me, for mystery books, the pacing matters most and Catherine Hokin expertly released clues and kept the story moving from the beginning to the end. Just as I thought that we had to come to the end, she threw something else out and I was ready to keep reading and guessing!

I love the combination of mystery and historical fiction and hope that there are many more to come. To be swept into a mystery that takes place without the modern conveniences adds something - when the characters can't take the easy way out and instead have to really put their nose to the grind to solve it.

A story that will bring tears to your eyes , and will make you feel like your heart is breaking, it's about the lives of people who flight , and lost in a war, about a mad man who would even make threats against his own daughter , and will do anything to keep the truth about him and his war crimes a secrets, about a love between a man and woman who is meant to be together and the promise made by the woman to stop her father and bring his crimes out of the shadows even at her own live and the live she can have.

Rebuilding lives in post war Germany comes alive through this story. Flashbacks of the horrors during the war are vivid. A murder mystery and secrets to sort through to solve. Will Hanni and Freddy uncover the Berlin Strangler?

This is the second book in the Hanni Winter series and was just as enjoyable as the first one. Hanni and Freddy are still working together in post war Berlin however with Russia now forming a blockade around the city things are more uncertain than ever before. When the body of a young boy is found strangled with no signs of who committed the crime or even why it may have been just a wrong place wrong time crime. When more people are killed in a similar fashion but in their own homes, they soon realise they are dealing with a serial killer that apparently kills at random but is known to the victims. What they can’t work out is the connection between them all.
Things are still tense between Hanni and Freddy as they fight both their past demons and their attraction to each other. Hanni is still afraid to admit to her past and is worried that her father will bring her new life crashing down around her. She is also trying to find a way to bring him to justice and thinks she may have finally found a way to make him pay and get him out of her life once and for all. Freddy is confronting his past head on as he contacts someone he was close to in the concentration camp. Whilst they have gone different ways their shared experiences will always make them feel like family.
This book is slightly different from the previous one in as much we know right from the start who is committing the crimes and even their reasoning behind it. Tony is charming on the surface, having fully adopted the persona he created when he was shipped out to America at the start of the war, but he has a dark soul bent on revenge for his family. Knowing who is committing the crimes in no way detracts from the book as it is intriguing to watch the killer move around Berlin, getting close to Hanni and even using her profession to further his goals. Due to the media attention surrounding him thanks to the American charm offensive he is as Freddy puts it “a stranger who you think you know” making it easy for him to get close to those he kills.
Once again Hanni and Freddy put their lives in danger as they try to prove their theories and also ensure that Tony pays for his crimes and things are not swept under the carpet. Unfortunately, their determination and unwillingness to keep Freddy’s boss in the loop means that people close to them pay for it with their lives.
I am looking forward to seeing if there is more for Hanni as she still has not really dealt with the spectre that is her father and I would love to know if she and Freddy can build on their relationship and overcome the past once and for all

Unlikely Murderer

In a city recovering from WWII, occupied by the American's and blockaded by the Soviets, the people of Berlin rely on the Allied Forces planes to bring food and supplies to Berlin. The American's, especially the pilots flying in the supplies are their heroes.

Hanni is a photographer working free lance and also with the police department as a police photographer. When a string of murders happen Freddy and Hanni must work together to solve the case. With a city of secrets and both holding secret pasts of their own it is a daunting task. What they find will surprise both of them, but will they live to tell.

This is a story of people touched to their souls by the war. People lost and pasts they wish to forget, but cannot. It seems that everyone in this city has been touch by the war in one way or another. It is very sad how far the destruction reigns in body, mind and souls.

It is another great detective story featuring Hanni Winter and I did enjoy reading it. I would recommend this book.

Thanks to Catherine Hokin for writing another great book, Bookouture for publishing it and NetGalley for making it available to me.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for this ARC.

This is the second book in the Hanni Winter series and after reading the previous book I had high hopes. Did this book live up to my expectations - yes - and I think this series is shaping up to being a very good one. Freddy and Hanni investigate a number of murders with very little evidence being left and struggle to find clues to who the murderer is. .The main characters are very likeable, believable and flawed with good background histories. It’s a lovely change to read a book set just after the end of World War 2 with a crime element in it. I thought this was a very engaging and absorbing read that grabbed my attention right from the start and held it all the way through. I was drawn quickly into the story which flowed well and I loved the separate threads which came together beautifully at the end with most loose ends tied up nicely. It was nice to see glimpses of Freddy's past and how it shapes him. I like the continuing thread from the first book and can’t wait for a certain character who I loathe to get their come uppance. Overall an entertaining read that I really enjoyed and had everything I liked - great writing, believable characters and a good plot line. I’d recommend this is you like historical fiction that is just a bit different and I look forward to the next book in this series.

I was knocked sideways by the plot, what I had originally anticipated what this book was about was completely blown. Also one of the “good” guys is evil to the core. The book is also about secrets. Each of the main characters has major past secrets that are unearthed for the reader, but not necessarily to each other.
When I was certain what I was reading was an actuality, my jaw dropped. I understood the rationale behind it, but it still shocked me.
Set against the Berlin Airlift, the uncertainty of the times comes alive as a divided Germany and Berlin struggle to grapple with post WWII life.

Great writing, great characters and a great storyline. Time to clear your schedule for the afternoon, coffee pot on and phone turned off - you won’t want to put this one down. This was a compelling and thoroughly enjoyable read from start to finish with a great storyline, interesting cast of characters and all capped off by skilful writing.

Oh no, this one brought tears and not just because I finished. The loss of a favorite character - I cried. Really enjoyed the story and Hanni continues to develop as a character. Loved the plot line - all too often Jewish characters are too goody goody to be real. I cant wait for the next book in the series. Can be read as a standalone but I think its better to read book one first. I re-read book one (still awesome) and then started book two which I couldnt put down until I finished. Loved it. Only one question, when is book three out?

Hanni is now a photographer in Berlin after the war. She is trying to put the past horrors behind her and save for her own photographic studio. Through work she meets Tony who is a PR for the American airforce but has his own demons. Her friend Freddy who is now a DI and she works with, has his own horrors as he is jewish and barely escaped with his life. Hanni is the photographer at crime scenes and the latest one is a young boy apparently strangled with no apparent motive. There are then more murders but the police headed by Freddy are struggling to find a connection between the victims or anything that might lead to the perpetrator. It's as if he is a friendly face who can open doors but who is doing this and why? Will Hanni fall for Tony or make amends with Freddy?
This is a different read from the first one in the series as this one is more of a crime read amongst the fall out of war and the division of Berlin at the time. It would stand alone however Hanni and Freddys backgrounds would make more sense if the first one has already been read.
A different read, an interesting one which gives a perspective of post war Germany. A little romance, a mystery, several murders and much more.
#blogtour

“The Pilot’s Girl” by Catherine Hokin is a sequel to “The Commandant’s Daughter,” part of the Hanni Winter series. This book, the second in the series, is a stand-alone and Ms. Hokin does a good job filling the reader in on people and situations. This story, like the first, takes place in Berlin after WWII, around the time of the Berlin Airlift. In this story the reader follows Hanni Winter (photographer) and Freddy Schlussel (detective) as they try to solve the mystery of the Berlin Strangler. While some old characters return, there’s also the addition of handsome American Tony Miller (pilot). This book, once again, had a mystery, some hidden secrets, and how the after affects of the horrors of WWII are still haunting the main characters. I think this book, for me, was about a 3.5 read - it moved more quickly than the first book. I also liked seeing, again, Ms. Hokin’s list of sources - just in case one would like to read more about Berlin after WWII.

THE PILOT"S GIRL (HANNI WINTER BOOK 2):

Synopsis:
Hanni Winter shivers in her thin coat as she hurries through the empty Berlin streets to her job. Despite the freezing winter and poverty all around, her cheeks flush when she meets the man she is photographing today, charismatic Tony Miller, the American pilot risking his life to bring food and provisions to the starving people of the city. But her rush of joy turns to ash as she sees the man behind him…

It’s been years since Hanni fled her terrible past, but seeing Reiner Foss now brings back harrowing memories of the man they called The Showman, and of the concentration camp he commanded. The last time she tried to expose him, Hanni almost died, can she dare to try again? Or should she seize the chance she sees in Tony’s sparkling eyes to leave the horrors of the war behind?

Review:

WOW! What a read!

You will be sucked into this great read from the first page. Suspense, romance, and history collide in this novel as Hanni returns to her past. Set during World War 2, this novel focuses on the history and the lives of those affected by the war. This is both heartbreaking and beautifully written.

I loved this book it was well written with a well researched and engaging storyline and well developed, likeable and relatable charcaters, although I liked some more tha others. This was such a heartbreaking read that I don't think I will forget it for a while, this is possibly one of the best books I have read this year so far.

Really good. This story combines the aftermath of WWII Germany with a murder mystery and a love story that will keep you guessing until the end.

THE PILOT’S GIRL by CATHERINE HOKIN comes after The Commandant’s Daughter in the Hanni Winter series. Although it can be read as a stand alone, I suggest you read the novels in sequence. The story, which takes place in Berlin in 1948, when tensions are running high between the Russians and Germans and with the British and Americans airlifting food into the city, is gripping, heartbreaking and very exciting, as police detective Freddy Schlussel and phtotographer Hanni Winter are faced with solving the case of the Berlin Strangler. Both Hanni and Freddy have secrets, with Hanni’s secret threatening to destroy their relationship.
Tony Miller, the handsome and charismatic American pilot, quickly becomes everyone’s friend in Berlin. Hanni spends days followng him around photographing him as he makes public appearances, but is he real?…….
The novel is well written with interesting characters, all of whom have been affected in some way by the horrors of WW11. Their emotions are well portrayed as they desperately try to stay alive and as Hanni and Freddy try to see justice served.
The Pilot’s girl is an excellent read and one I highly recommend. I really hope there is a third novel in the series.
I was given a free cooy of the book by NetGalley from Bookouture. The opinions in this review are completely my own.