Night Train to Berlin

Megan is the wife of Chief Inspector of the French Police at a local fair she is asked a question she responds and soon after the man who asked is injured This is a fabulous maigret novel I was hooked and the mystery is very well told. I loved the suspense and while not as exciting as I first thought it is a novel that I will recommending to the ladies of my book group.

A dark boys own thriller set in Paris and Berlin featuring Chief Inspector Maigret. Very highly recommended. I was given a digital copy by the publisher Troubador / Matador via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review.

Margaret de Rohan has written books featuring the same characters but for children, this book is her first one aimed at an adult market and it has certainly worked. Megan is the wife of Chief Inspector of the French Police, Philippe Maigret and, at the beginning of the book, is planning a short visit to Berlin with her 13-year-old grandson Nat. Just before she is due to leave she is in Les Invalides when she is approached by a complete stranger who asks her ‘Are you going to Scarborough Fair?' Megan automatically replies ‘Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme' the obvious reply that most of us of a certain age would say remembering the Simon and Garfunkel version of the English Folk song. The stranger walks away without a further word but a short time later is seriously injured in a hit and run accident. When he is interviewed by Chief Inspector Maigret in hospital he keeps repeating warnings of an event scheduled to happen in Berlin on the Ides of March. The plot thickens when a photograph of the meeting shows Akram in the background, a man who works in a local boulangerie but as Maigret discovers has previous links with the Jordanian secret service. Despite Maigret's foreboding Megan is determined that she will not give up her trip and her relationship with her husband is one of the enjoyable areas of the book, despite his lofty position, he appears to be very under the thumb where his wife is concerned! However, his worst fears are confirmed when Megan and Nat disappear from the overnight train from Paris to Berlin triggering both Maigret and his English counterpart Chief Inspector Clive Scott to borrow a car from the British Embassy and make a wild dash to Berlin. The plot is further complicated by the appearance of an American Tom Aitkens who is not only the Chief Executive Office of a company called Scarborough Fair Incorporated but has also had an affair with Megan many years before when she was doing Work Experience in New York and whom he is still in love with. The actual plot, to blow up and injure many victims including members of the German parliament is very topical and the author is very good at tackling this type of terrorism that is unfortunately part of our world today. However, she is still able to maintain humour within the story in her characterisations which helps to mitigate the build-up of tension. The ending was very satisfactory although there was scope for a further book about these characters and I hope there will be. The only real negative for me was her way of ending chapters with three word phrases like ‘And they were' or ‘And they did' which did actually annoy me and I did not think it added to the book. For me it was just a cliché. However, apart from this, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone. A very interesting plot and well written. Dexter Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

Five stars are not enough for this excellent book. Great story. I read it in two sittings. I would have read it in one, but I was interrupted. Hard to put down. Loved it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, particularly the way the author built the suspense and set the scenes of all the action. It was easy to become engrossed with the characters and I found the storyline attention-grabbing to the point of not wanting to stop reading.