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The Cleaner by Elisabeth Herrmann
Jun. 4th, 2017 11:09 pmThe Blurb On The Back:
An unforgettable heroine.
An unforgiveable past.
Pools of blood, scenes of carnage, signs of agonising death – who deals with the aftermath of violence once the bodies have been taken away?
Judith Kepler has seen it all. She is a crime scene specialist. She turns crime scenes back into habitable spaces. She is a cleaner. But when she is called to the home of a woman who has been brutally murdered, she is suddenly confronted with her own past.
As Judith begins to ask questions, she comes to the attention of former members of the Stasi, and becomes the target of some powerful enemies. Will she be able to get to the truth whilst keeping the secret she’s held all these years?
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )
The Verdict:
Elisabeth Herrmann’s spy thriller (translated from German by Bradley Schmidt) has a clever premise that makes great use of East Germany’s history and the tricky issues thrown up by reunification but the story itself is clunky, especially the dialogue, and Judith’s behaviour never rings true while the romance teased with Kaiserley is tedious and unconvincing, which means that ultimately this is an okay read rather than a great one.
THE CLEANER was released in the United Kingdom on 23rd March 2017. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
An unforgiveable past.
Pools of blood, scenes of carnage, signs of agonising death – who deals with the aftermath of violence once the bodies have been taken away?
Judith Kepler has seen it all. She is a crime scene specialist. She turns crime scenes back into habitable spaces. She is a cleaner. But when she is called to the home of a woman who has been brutally murdered, she is suddenly confronted with her own past.
As Judith begins to ask questions, she comes to the attention of former members of the Stasi, and becomes the target of some powerful enemies. Will she be able to get to the truth whilst keeping the secret she’s held all these years?
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )
The Verdict:
Elisabeth Herrmann’s spy thriller (translated from German by Bradley Schmidt) has a clever premise that makes great use of East Germany’s history and the tricky issues thrown up by reunification but the story itself is clunky, especially the dialogue, and Judith’s behaviour never rings true while the romance teased with Kaiserley is tedious and unconvincing, which means that ultimately this is an okay read rather than a great one.
THE CLEANER was released in the United Kingdom on 23rd March 2017. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
