The Girl From Berlin by Ronald H. Balson

The Girl From Berlin by Ronald H. Balson

Published October 2018 – St. Martin’s Press

Review copy courtesy of the publisher

Description:

In the newest novel from internationally-bestselling author Ronald. H. Balson, Liam and Catherine come to the aid of an old friend and are drawn into a property dispute in Tuscany that unearths long-buried secrets

An old friend calls Catherine Lockhart and Liam Taggart to his famous Italian restaurant to enlist their help. His aunt is being evicted from her home in the Tuscan hills by a powerful corporation claiming they own the deeds, even though she can produce her own set of deeds to her land. Catherine and Liam’s only clue is a bound handwritten manuscript, entirely in German, and hidden in its pages is a story long-forgotten…

Ada Baumgarten was born in Berlin in 1918, at the end of the war. The daughter of an accomplished first-chair violinist in the prestigious Berlin Philharmonic, and herself a violin prodigy, Ada’s life was full of the rich culture of Berlin’s interwar society. She formed a deep attachment to her childhood friend Kurt, but they were torn apart by the growing unrest as her Jewish family came under suspicion. As the tides of history turned, it was her extraordinary talent that would carry her through an unraveling society turned to war, and make her a target even as it saved her, allowing her to move to Bologna―though Italy was not the haven her family had hoped, and further heartache awaited.

What became of Ada? How is she connected to the conflicting land deeds of a small Italian villa? As they dig through the layers of lies, corruption, and human evil, Catherine and Liam uncover an unfinished story of heart, redemption, and hope―the ending of which is yet to be written.(publisher)

My take: When Catherine and Liam (married attorney and investigator) go to Italy to help a friend’s aunt with a property dispute they wind up with a decades old mystery to solve in addition to the original reason for travel. The story moves back and forth from 1930s Germany and Italy to 2017 Italy slowly winding it’s way to the solution of the mystery. The plight of the Jews in Germany plays out in the storyline of a young musician, Ada and her family. I knew where the story would go but was unsure of the Italian connection. I’ve read many historical fiction novels written about this era. The Girl From Berlin is a bit different but also similar in its heartbreaking events. The legal mystery was interesting. I especially appreciated the music aspect of the plot. Recommended to fans of historical fiction and the author. This book is the 5th installment of the Liam Taggert and Catherine Lockhart series but easily stands alone.

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