Philip Kerr

Philip Kerr (1956-2018) was born in Edinburgh. He studied law and philosophy at the University of Birmingham. After graduating, he initially worked as a copywriter at the advertising agency Saatchi and Saatchi. In 1989, he began contributing as a columnist to newspapers such as the "Sunday Times," "Evening Standard," and "New Statesman." That same year, he published his first novel titled "The March Violets" (Viking Press, Greek edition by Kedros, 2003), introducing the character of detective Bernie Gunther, who operates in the shadows of Nazi-controlled Berlin. This was followed by the novels "The Pale Criminal" (1990, Greek edition by Kedros, 2003) and "German Requiem" (1991, Greek edition by Kedros, 2003), featuring Bernie Gunther against the backdrop of interwar and postwar Berlin. These three novels were compiled in 1993 into a single volume by Penguin Press, under the general title "Berlin Noir" (Greek edition "The Berlin Trilogy," Kedros, 2012). This work is one of the most popular in contemporary literature, not just in the crime genre, and led to Kerr's inclusion in the "Best Young British Novelists" list by Granta magazine in 1993. The "Trilogy" inspired the author to expand Bernie Gunther's adventures, which take place during or shortly after World War II. The series includes 11 more books: "A Quiet Flame" (2008), "If the Dead Rise Not" (2009), "Prague Fatale" (2011), "A Man Without Breath" (2013), "The Lady from Zagreb" (2015), "The Other Side of Silence" (2016), "Prussian Blue" (2017), among others. The last novel in the series was titled "Greeks Bearing Gifts" (2018), and in 2019, the eleventh adventure he managed to complete, titled "Metropolis," was expected to be published. Philip Kerr was a history enthusiast and field researcher. In his works, he managed to reconstruct the human geography of the World War II era with the precision of a historian. In addition to the Bernie Gunther series, Philip Kerr also wrote standalone novels, science fiction works, three football crime novels (featuring coach Scott Manson), and children's literature books. He was honored with the RBA International Prize for Crime Writing and the British Crime Writers' Association's Ellis Peters Historic Crime Award. He was married to author Jane Thynne and was the father of three children. He passed away after battling cancer on Friday, March 23, 2018, at the age of 62.