Posing as an escaping Nazi war-criminal Bernie Gunther arrives in Buenos Aires a
nd, having revealed his real identity to the local chief of police, discovers th
at his reputation as a detective goes before him. A young girl has been murdered
in peculiarly gruesome circumstances that strongly resemble Bernie's final case
as a homicide detective with the Berlin police. A case he had failed to solve.
Circumstances lead the chief of police in Buenos Aires to suppose that the mu
rderer may be one of several thousand ex Nazis who have fetched up in Argentina
since 1945. And, therefore, who better than Bernie Gunther to help him track tha
t murderer down? Redolent with atmosphere, this novel ends up asking some highly
provocative questions about the true extent of Argentina's Nazi collaboration a
nd anti-semitism under the Perons.
