In the volatile and shifting political atmosphere of Eastern Europe after World War II, an inexperienced homicide detective fresh out of the academy is assigned a homicide that no one wants to solve. Set in a bombed-out city in an unnamed country formerly occupied by the Germans and now by the Russians, the story follows Emil Brod as he unravels the threads of the cover-up of a brutal murder, while supporting his grandparents, his only family, in the equally brutal city.

" Steinhauer makes you smell the murky sewers and feel the damp chill of the dark alleys as Emil works to solve the case. This is a finely-formed novel that evokes all of the desperation, intrigue, and bloody-mindedness that was post-war Europe, but it also brings to life the spirit of those people, who not only survived those horrible years but went on to build new lives ."—John Blazina, FennFocus Reps Picks