March Fallen / Lunapark

Gereon Rath's Fifth and Sixth Case

Rosenmontag 1933: Gereon Rath is celebrating Carnival in Cologne. The morning after begins with a severe hangover, a strange woman in bed, and a phone call from Berlin: The Reichstag is in flames! Immediate vacation ban! However, Gereon Rath inherits his new case from his superior Wilhelm Böhm, who has maneuvered himself into political obscurity under the Nazi police president: A homeless man has been found stabbed at Nollendorfplatz. His backstory leads back to March 1917, when German soldiers left scorched earth during Operation Alberich in Northern France. Rath investigates, but he is constantly interrupted by other matters. The preparations for his wedding to Charly Ritter are merely the least of his problems.

Berlin 1934: Under the railway bridge at Liesenstrasse lies the body of an SA man. Commissioner Gereon Rath and his former colleague Reinhold Gräf, now working for the Secret State Police, form a special commission. While Gräf assumes a political murder, Rath investigates in a different direction. He uncovers connections to the dismantled ring association Nordpiraten, which continues its criminal activities disguised as an SA storm. When a second SA man is found beaten to death, everything points to a series of murders. One lead takes them to the recently closed Lunapark, and Rath wonders what role underworld boss Johann Marlow, a sworn enemy of the Nordpiraten, plays in this case.

Masterfully read by David Nathan - the voice of Gereon Rath.