The Bridge of Sighs
In 1948, Emil Brod, a newcomer to People's Militia, is sent to investigate the death of a state songwriter. What begins as a simple murder case leads him through the upper echelons of power in this newly liberated communist state, and on to Berlin, where the first great Cold War fight is going on--the Berlin Airlift.
FIRST CHAPTER - NOTES - GROUP GUIDE (PDF)
Shortlisted for:
The CWA Historical Dagger Award
The MWA Edgar Award
Mystery Readers International's Macavity Award
The Deadly Pleasures' Barry Award
Bouchercon's Anthony Award
...a stunning and unique look at life and crime in a Soviet satellite nation.
--Paula L. Woods, Los Angeles Times
Everything that a listener could want is here: murder, political intrigue, blackmail, a love story, and a quality mystery...
--Scott R. DiMarco, Library Journal (audio review)
Steinhauer spins out his story in clean and simple prose that gleam with authenticity and captures a uniquely East European spirit. ...gripping, subversive...
--Dick Adler, Chicago Tribune
...a wonderfully taut tale...This is a series I will follow with eagerness.
--Paul Skenazy, Washington Post
...original and mesmerizing...an intelligent, finely polished debut, loaded with atmospheric detail that effortlessly re-creates the rubble-strewn streets of the postwar period.... Highly recommended.
--Ronnie H. Terpening, Library Journal
...brilliant portrayal of an unnamed country in the aftermath of the Second World War... Bleak and uncompromising, this powerful novel grips from beginning to end.
--Susana Yager, Sunday Telegraph
Olen Steinhauer in The Bridge of Sighs has created a remarkable first novel ... featuring Emil Brod, who could turn out to be one of the finest crime fiction creations of 2003.
--The Halifax Chronicle-Herald
...thoughtful and impressive...
--The Guardian
Steinhauer captures the fatalism [of] ... Milan Kundera or Bohumil Hrabal, who actually lived through such totalitarian regimes. Despite this story being set 50 years in the past, the question at its heart is today as timely as it's ever been.
-- the News and Observer, Raleigh NC
The Bridge of Sighs is a richly atmospheric tale of one man's quixotix struggle to decipher the bleak enigma of postwar Eastern Europe. The intriguing young Inspector Brod is a character to remember.
--Dan Fesperman, author of Lie in the Dark
...a novel of intense vitality... Lots of humor, lots of threads and an ever-deepening mystery that is unique and a fine start for a very promising new author.
--J Robert Janes, author of Dollmaker