Munich, Summer 1922: the death of a young female artist proves to be the signal for a series of murders in the fight to control the burgeoning drugs trade in the city. ‘Munich White’ is a full-length novel that is the prequel to the popular Otto Braucher series of detective stories. It sees an increasingly inter-twined case from three perspectives as each of the characters seeks a way to survive, picking up different elements of the story as their paths cross.

Cornelia Escherich comes to Munich to start her career as a night-club singer. Soon she is relishing all the delights of the high life until one ill-judged encounter sends her spiralling downwards into Munich’s seedier side.

Erich Hartmann is desperate for work and is increasingly drawn into working for Dietrich Stauffer, a businessman with many interests but with the need for men to handle the dirty work for him. Can Hartmann thrive while maintaining at least some decency and what risks will working for Herr Stauffer mean?

Kommissar Otto Braucher is relatively new to Munich and is assigned to solving the murders of an increasing number of those involved with the drugs trade. Is it simply a case of revenge or does Munich face a drugs war? What role is played by Russian refugees fleeing upheaval? Tricked, threatened and attacked; dealing with a range of suspects and hemmed in by professional jealousies, Braucher tries to find some resolution to these messy, inter-linked killings.

This novel is set in Munich during a period of hyperinflation, violence and political upheaval. With guns easily available and the currency spiralling out of control, it is a time in which people kill for many reasons. Balancing detailed research with pace and mystery, Alexander Rooksmoor conjures up a very particular time and place that forms a fascinating back drop. In Rooksmoor’s detective stories, there are never simple answers and he combines credible developments with a realistic appreciation of how complex the resolution of crimes can be.