The Hidden Storyteller

As an ARC reader diving into "The Hidden Storyteller" by Mandy Robotham, I found myself immersed in a hauntingly vivid portrayal of post-war Germany. As the authors narrative skillfully weaves together the devastation of a bombed-out Hamburg with the resilience of its inhabitants. Georgie Young's return to a country she fled during the war sets the stage for a captivating exploration of loss, redemption, and the lingering shadows of secrets.

What struck me most was the authors ability to evoke the atmosphere of the time period, painting a picture of a city struggling to rebuild amidst the rubble. The characters, particularly Georgie and Detective Harri Schroder, are intricately drawn, each grappling with their own demons as they navigate the murky aftermath of war.

The mystery at the heart of the novel adds an extra layer of intrigue, drawing me deeper into the narrative as Georgie and Harri race to uncover the truth behind a series of gruesome murders. But it's not just the whodunit aspect that kept me turning pages; it's the way Robotham uses the investigation as a lens through which to explore the complexities of guilt, betrayal, and the human capacity for both good and evil.

Overall, "The Hidden Storyteller" is a gripping and thought-provoking read that left me eagerly anticipating Mandy Robotham's next offering. Fantastic read. I can't wait for the next one. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review.

The Hidden Storyteller was an epic tale of journalist, Georgie Young who went from England to Hamburg, Germany to tell the story of the aftermath of Hitler's reign.

There had been three women murdered and Georgie teamed up with detective Harri Schroder to solve the mystery. She had two helpers: a woman named Zofia and a street person named Meta. Zofia helped with translation and Meta helped with identifying the murderer.

They figured out that the man responsible for the deaths was selecting his victims from a dance. So they all suited up and went. It was also known that there was a particular fragrance, petrouli, that he wore. At first they found a man that they thought was the right one. But it turned out to be not the case. One thing they knew for sure was that his name was Martin Sexton. They just didn't know if he was German or British.

Then one day Georgie left her hotel and she ended up in a blizzard. She was headed for a particular cafe but she was blinded by the snow. In her disorientation a man showed up and told her he would take her to safety. It turned out to be Martin Sexton and he knew all about her.

It was truly a brilliant saga. The author took the reader from instance to instance with a deft hand. At first I wasn't sure I was going to like it, but before long it picked up and I was hooked. I was impressed with the way the characters were developed and the story was really easy to follow. All in all, I'd say this was a winning book. I gave it five stars.

Readers who enjoyed the Berlin Girl will loved this story featuring English reporter Georgie Young. Loved following the story of her as she returns to war torn Hamburg after the war. Reporting the aftermath of the war on the survivors, Georgie teams up with Harri Schroeder, head of the criminal unit to help solve the murders of several women. I found the story realistic as well as heartfelt. Recommended!

I really enjoyed this historical fiction story. I enjoyed it so much that I wish I could un-read it just so I can read it all over again.

This book has everything you could need or want in a historical fiction book, revolving around war time. The characters were so very easy to fall in love with, it was easy to envision the scenes in your head, and this book makes you feel as though you are right there in the story with the characters.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of historical fiction and mysteries. The author has a very unique writing style that makes you hooked within the first chapter1

Thank you Netgalley and Harper 360 for this arc.

A historical that isn’t a dual-timeline? And is not a romance? Yes, readers please note that this is historical fiction and NOT a romance book. After the cover (with no Spitfire planes!) caught my eye, the blurb made me want to read it.

This is not a romance. We get postwar Germany struggling to survive under the triumphant Allies. The Germans are getting impatient with deprivations while the British are annoyed that Britains are facing stricter rations in order to help supply Germany. Almost everyone has lost someone or many someones, the weather in February is foul, and there’s not enough food, clothing, shelter, or jobs. The British are also annoyed if the Germans don’t display enough shame for kicking the war off while the everyday Germans are exhausted from being asked “How could you not have known?” Oh, and there are street kids living in bombed out buildings, surviving hand to mouth.

Georgie quickly latches onto the fact that this is a shit show as well as the fact that there is a serial killer on the loose. Inspektor Harri Schroder is at first irritated that this British reporter shoe-horns her way into his investigation, then reluctantly impressed that her connections land him some clues. Harri also has to deal with a British Major who puts pressure on him to Solve This Case.

I enjoyed watching Georgie and Harri slowly thaw towards each other and develop a friendship. Harri misses his wife and child and harbors guilt over their deaths but he also misses verbally sparring with a smart woman. As Georgie has also lost friends, she and Harri can talk about losses and a bit about feelings and allow themselves to cry (once) on each other’s shoulders. They are clearly still traumatized by the past but are survivors who aren’t going to give up or give in to despair.

The investigation takes us all over Hamburg and digs into the nooks and crannies of how people were trying to make a future and deal with the past. Scores of people spend their days holding up ragged pictures of missing family, others shuffle from here to there, deals are done, swaps are made and an unopened pack of Chesterfields will buy you a whole lot. I felt the cold, I felt the despair, and I understood what drove young women to prowl for foreign men who could take them out of that or just share their superior British rations. From a prologue at the start it’s fairly clear what is going through the mind of the killer but I did guess and double guess at who this person might be. The trail of clues is a bit too easy but as I said, I was enjoying watching the relationships unfold and getting a glimpse of this world. B+

I loved this book. I loved this book so much that I added the author's previous novels to my TBR list. The author did a wonderful job of depicting the struggle of postwar Hamburg, Germany under the Allies control. Hamburg is full of devastation and a starving population. I found the descriptions of Hamburg to be heart-wrenching.

This book was part historical fiction and part murder mystery. Georgie is a British freelance war journalist who travels to Hamburg to get a true feel for how the British are "winning the peace". Georgie is a strong female protagonist who befriends a German policeman to hunt for a serial killer. The story was fast paced and very difficult to put down.

Though I have a few of her books, The Hidden Storyteller by Mandy Robotham is the first one I've actually read. I have really enjoyed World War II fiction lately, so this book was a slightly different spin on that theme. Here we dealt with the aftermath of the war in Germany, instead of the actual war itself. Our heroine of this book was in a previous story, but you don't need to have read that one first, as this novel stands alone. I admit it took me quite a while to really get into it; perhaps it's because I have so much going on in my life right now. But once I hit midpoint, I was fully engaged.

In 1946 Hamburg, the war is over, but Germany is in ruins. Reporter Georgie Young returns to the country she fled seven years earlier; she is posted to Allied-run Hamburg to do a series of articles on post-war Germany. There are many stark reminders of the horrors of war, from bombed-out buildings to homeless people just trying to find a way to live. But Georgie also finds pockets of hope in this city, from a violinist playing in the rubble to Germans and allied forces joining together to dance to swing music. When Georgie meets local policeman Harri Schroder, she is pulled into his investigation of a murdered woman with a word carved into her skin; this is not the first such murder. She soon learns that not all dark secrets of the war have been left in the past, and she is pulled into a world she wasn't expecting to see again.

As stated earlier, this book took a while to grab me. It seemed to start very slowly, and I often put it down for days at a time. However, once I hit the mid-mark, the story really pulled me in, and that's due to finding out more about Georgie and Harri. Harri and his team's investigations into the murders ended up being quite thrilling, but it was the marvelous characters that turned out to be what really started to pull me in. Georgie Young was a news reporter who was previously in Germany during the war. She married photographer Max, but she returned to Hamburg on her own this time. They had a heartbreaking event occur at home, so there were some issues that each had to work through while they were apart. Georgie was determined to show the real post-war Germany, not just the evils that were well-known to the world. The Germans were under the control of Allied occupying forces, so there was resentment there. But there were also many starving people and vast amounts of homeless citizens, merely trying to survive. So many were endlessly searching to find loved ones they were separated from; would they find one another, or were the missing forever lost? Harri was part of the police, trying to discover who brutally murdered a number of young women. He was being pressured by the British officer in charge in Hamburg to hurry up and find the killer, which was putting even more pressure on the overworked man. Harri was in the SS during the war, but certainly not by choice; sometimes one had to do something to stay alive that was so opposite of the person they truly were at heart. Harri had lost his wife and child during the war, and it broke him. I loved the relationship between Georgie and Harri. It wasn't a romance, but a deep friendship that began the healing both of them needed to accept the past and move onward. There were some supporting characters that were quite exceptional, particularly Meta (one of the street kids stealing to get by) and Zofia (who was searching for her missing sister last seen in a concentration camp) who worked as a translator for Georgie. The conclusion of the murder investigation was quite exciting, but these outstanding characters dealing with both triumph and heartbreak made the story quite special. Now to go back and find the book in which Georgie and Max first appeared!

I received an ARC of this book courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley. I received no compensation for my review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely my own.

The Hidden Storyteller
by Mandy Robotham
Pub DateJul 30 2024
Harper 360 |Avon
General Fiction \(Adult\)| Mystery & Thrillers| Women's Fiction



I am reviewing a copy Of The Hidden Storyteller through Harper 360/Avon


The war has come to an end. However, the ashes still hold secrets.


**Hamburg, 1946**
In the wake of the war, Germany lies in ruins. After fleeing the country seven years prior - at the onset of the war - Georgie Young returns to an Allied-run Hamburg to find it in ruins.


.In a bombed-out city crumbling under the weight of millions of displaced souls, she discovers pockets of warmth: a violinist playing amid the wreckage, couples dancing in the streets, and a nation trying to make amends.


After working with local detective Harri Schroder to catch a killer targeting women on the city's streets, Georgie soon discovers that some secrets of war did not die with Hitler.


I give The Hidden Storyteller five out Of five stars!


Happy Reading!

The Hidden Storyteller by Mandy Robotham is an eye opening tale of life in post war Germany after the fall of Adolf Hitler. More homeless than can be counted, starving and dying in the streets. Children with no family. Police with no resources. And one reporter determined to tell the truth. Georgie Young sets out to tell the world the story, and in the process, finds herself involved in a murder investigation with the local police. Such a good story with so much info about life after the war that I didn’t know. I loved it. One of my favorites this year. Thanks #NetGalley and the publisher.

I really liked this. Set in Britain occupied Germany after WWII, Georgie comes back to report on the post-war effort. This book was eye-opening for me, as the post war isn’t something I have read a lot about. I just cannot fathom the mess that comes from wars. I will definitely be reading more of this author.

1946, Hamburg, Germany. Amid the devastation, a reporter returns to the home that lays now unrecognizable. Follow Georgie as she first tries to redeem hope in the ordinary but then follows along a path to solving a local murder which will plummet her into the darkness. This Historical Fiction perfectly combines with a murder mystery for a historical mystery that will connect you with the characters until the very end!

This is a story after World War II in Hamburg. A reporter Georgie Young is faced with the damage of the war plus how it affected the people. Usually you read about time during the war not after. This was a wonderful story.