Historical Police Fiction

The detectives in Josie's squad don’t fit the spit and polish image of the Adam 12 LAPD. They’re grubby, unshaven, disrespectful to authority, and generally do police work in an effective, if not by-the-book way. She’s comfortable balancing on the edge of legality to make a good arrest until one night an informant tells her that a cop has stepped over the line and is selling rock cocaine. In Josie’s mind, there’s nothing worse than dirty cops. She learns the hard way that they can be vicious, clever, and determined to do anything - including murder - to avoid capture.

The residents of tiny Butcherville, Oklahoma, love their God-given freedoms so much, they refuse to hire their own police force. When they need a cop, they just call Emmett Hardy, police chief of Burr, the closest neighboring town. Whether it’s to break up a fight, dissuade an angry good ol’ boy from hunting rabbits with an M-16, or eject an unruly patron from Butcherville’s combination strip joint and bookstore, Emmett’s always glad to oblige...that is, until a local business owner’s lust for money and power results in a deadly shootout and multiple kidnappings.

At the public execution of the anarchist assassin Laurent Moreau, the outgoing Chief Inspector warns his protégé, the newly promoted Lefebvre: “I’ve heard that some of Moreau’s cronies have sworn revenge. You don’t want to get killed your first week as chief.” Meanwhile, Lefebvre is charged with investigating the disappearance of the Baron de Livet, a brash millionaire with connections to Russian spies and a history of gambling, womanizing, and fighting in duels. The case is more complicated than it seems, of course....

Dresden, 18. Juni 1953, ein Tag nach dem blutig niedergeschlagenen Arbeiteraufstand in der DDR: Max Heller wird zu einem Todesfall in einem Betrieb für Wärmeisolierungen gerufen. Dem dortigen Betriebsleiter wurden brutal die Atemwege mit Isolierwolle verstopft. Unter Mordverdacht gerät eine ehemalige Angestellte, die von sich selbst behauptet, eine frühere KZ-Aufseherin und jetzt Spionin für den Westen zu sein. Doch Heller glaubt ihr nicht. Zumal alle Angestellten des kleinen Betriebes hartnäckig die Aussage verweigern.

William Arrowood, Victorian London’s less salubrious private detective, is paid a visit by Captain Moon, the owner of a pleasure steamer moored on the Thames. He complains that someone has been damaging his boat, putting his business in jeopardy. Arrowood and his trusty sidekick Barnett suspect professional jealousy, but when a string of skulls is retrieved from the river, it seems like even fouler play is afoot. It’s up to Arrowood and Barnett to solve the case before any more corpses end up in the watery depths.

Paris: July 1890. Inspector Achille Lefebvre and his wife Adele are enjoying their stay at a seaside resort - until a body found hanging from a bridge in a public park demands the Inspector's attention. Is it suicide or murder? A twisted trail of evidence draws Inspector Lefebvre into a shadowy underworld of international intrigue, espionage, and terrorism.

Stoke Newington, 1863: Little Margaret Lovejoy is found brutally murdered in the outhouse at her family’s estate. A few days later, a man is cut down in a similar manner on the doorstep of courtesan and professional detective Heloise Chancey’s prestigious address. At the same time, Heloise’s maid, Amah Li Leen, must confront events from her past that appear to have erupted into the present day. Once again Heloise is caught up in a maelstrom of murder and deceit that threatens to reach into the very heart of her existence.

Berlin, Spätsommer 1935. In der Familie Rath geht jeder seiner Wege. Pflegesohn Fritz marschiert mit der HJ zum Nürnberger Reichsparteitag, Charly schlägt sich als Anwaltsgehilfin und Privatdetektivin durch, während sich Gereon Rath, mittlerweile zum Oberkommissar befördert, mit den Todesfällen befassen muss, die sonst niemand haben will. Ein tödlicher Verkehrsunfall weckt seinen Jagdinstinkt, obwohl seine Vorgesetzten ihm den Fall entziehen und ihn in eine andere Abteilung versetzen. Es geht um Hermann Göring, der erpresst werden soll, um geheime Akten, Morphium und schmutzige Politik.

Il commissario Maki Markaris ha due grandi passioni: il mare e la caccia al polpo, che conserva nel congelatore dei reperti organici del commissariato di Chania, sull'isola di Creta. Markaris però ama anche il raki, l'acquavite ottomana al profumo di anice, e le dee. Proprio come Afroditi, la giovane archeologa rimasta orfana di un padre che custodiva il segreto più straordinario di quell'isola celebre fin dai tempi più antichi per la leggenda del Minotauro.

When a young woman's body is discovered in the summer of 1910 in Vienna, the inspector's wife is certain the figs found in her stomach during the autopsy are the clue to the identity of the murderer - for there are no fresh figs in Vienna at this time of year.

April 1990, Guadeloupe: The body white female French tourist has been discovered on a nudist beach. The victim's remains offer no clues about her final hours. What turned this woman's vacation in paradise into a final nightmare? French-Algerian judge Anne Marie Laveau is assigned the high-profile case as a top priority. As always, the story of a murdered white woman has attracted the attention of international media.

London, April 1912. The third Irish Home Rule Bill is passing through Parliament, and the situation is growing ever more tense. Closely involved in the negotiations, cabinet minister Edmund Latimer finds himself under growing pressure, which only intensifies when his seven-month-old niece, Lucy, is snatched away in her pram in Regent's Park. Could there be a connection between Lucy’s kidnapping and the Irish talks? With her husband under intolerable strain, Edmund's wife, Alice, makes it her business to find out.

London, november 1944. En ung flicka hittas brutalt mördad. Den vinterkalla staden är mörklagd på grund av kriget och polisens resurser är begränsade i en stad som tvingats ta emot flyktingar från ett härjat Europa. Flickan visar sig vara en polsk judinna, Rosa Nowak, som arbetade på den pensionerade kriminalkommissarien John Maddens gård. Tyngd av samvetskval bestämmer han sig för att hjälpa sina gamla kollegor vid Scotland Yard att lösa fallet.

Luglio 1932. A Napoli è arrivato il caldo, quello vero, e la città sembra precipitare nell'inferno. In una notte rovente, un notissimo chirurgo cade dalla finestra del suo ufficio. Un uomo dall'aria irreprensibile, ma con qualche magagna nella vita. Scartata presto l'ipotesi del suicidio, Ricciardi e il brigadiere Maione iniziano un'indagine che li porterà a fare i conti con i più indomabili sentimenti e passioni, e ad affrontare i lati oscuri dell'anima. Questa volta saranno le donne della loro vita a reclamare attenzione.

Napoli, 1932. Manca una settimana a Pasqua e l'aria profuma di primavera. In un'esclusiva casa di tolleranza, viene trovata morta una delle ragazze più belle, la famosa Vipera. Chi è stato a soffocarla con un cuscino? Nella sua indagine, il commissario Ricciardi si troverà impigliato in una rete di sentimenti e passioni insospettabili, che toccheranno anche lui. Rappresentata con maestria nella sua vivace autenticità, la città arriverà a svelare il suo volto meno conosciuto.

È l'estate del 1899, e l'Italia è più unita sulle mappe che nel cuore dei suoi abitanti. Il giovane vicebrigadiere Ghibaudo viene trasferito nell'entroterra sardo con un gruppo di carabinieri provenienti da tutto il Regno per fondare un avamposto nella lotta al brigantaggio. Il mondo che lo attende è profondamente diverso dalla Torino in cui è cresciuto: i crimini sono tanti, ma poche le denunce, a dimostrazione che lì i torti vengono raddrizzati non dalla legge ma dai coltelli. È dunque una sorpresa quando la popolana Lianora si rivolge ai carabinieri per un caso di furto.

Jena, 1985. Ein junger Mann ist ermordet worden. Ein Punker, so nennen sich diese Gestalten, die vom sozialistischen Staatswesen so schwer auf Linie zu bringen sind. Die Ermittler der Morduntersuchungskommission um Oberleutnant Otto Castorp nehmen schnell den Vater des Opfers ins Visier, einen Antiquitätenhändler mit Westkontakt, der dem Arbeiter- und Bauernstaat feindselig gegenüber steht. Der Ermordete, das weiß Castorp, hatte sich als Informeller Mitarbeiter bei der Staatssicherheit verpflichtet.

Hamburg 1928: Seit einem Jahr gibt es im Hamburger Stadthaus eine weibliche Kriminalpolizei unter Leitung der resoluten Josefine Erkens. Auch die freiheitsliebende Paula heuert dort an. Als eine Tänzerin ermordet und obszön entstellt wird, gelingt es Erkens, Paula und eine weitere Kommissarin in der bisher rein männlich besetzen Mordkommission unterzubringen. Angeführt wird diese Ermittlungsgruppe von Martin Broder, der der Hölle von Flandern entkam. Zu Beginn tut er sich schwer mit den "unfähigen Weibern", doch die Frauen arbeiten mit präziser Logik und kühlem Witz.

Viet Nam, 1963. A female Viet Cong assassin is trawling the boulevards of Saigon, catching US Army officers off-guard with a single pistol shot, then riding off on the back of a scooter. Although the US military is not officially in combat, 16,000 American servicemen are stationed in Viet Nam “advising” the military and government. Among them are Ellsworth Miser and Clovis Robeson, two army investigators who have been tasked with tracking down the daring killer.

London, 1882. Alec Lonsdale, a young reporter on the Pall Mall Gazette, is working on a story about a fatal house fire. But the postmortem on the victim produces shocking results: Patrick Donovan's death was no accident. But why would someone murder a humble shop assistant and steal part of his brain? When a second body is discovered, its throat cut, and then a third, Lonsdale and his spirited female colleague, Hulda Friederichs, begin to uncover evidence of a conspiracy that reaches to the highest echelons of Victorian society.