Paul Hecht

Brutally efficient judge Isaac C Parker is determined to rid Arkansas and the Indian Territory of all manner of criminals. But his quest for justice and liberal use of the gallows earn him just as many friends as enemies and take a toll on every aspect of his life.

It's 1954 and Bernie Gunther sails to Florida, where he's arrested, returned to Cuba and imprisoned. There he meets Castro, and a French intelligence officer, Thibaud. Bernie is flown to Berlin with a proposition: work for the French or hang for murder. But Bernie's past as a German POW in Russia is about to catch up with him - in a way he could never have foreseen.

Deep in the Katyn Forest, near Smolensk, a wolf digs up some human remains. Rumour has it that the grave is full of Polish officers murdered by the Russians - a war crime that is perfect propaganda for Germany. But it needs a detective of subtle skill to investigate this horrific discovery. Cue Bernie Gunther…

September 1941: Bernie Gunther’s old boss, Reinhard Heydrich, orders him to Prague to stay at his country house. When a body is found in a room locked from the inside, the spotlight falls on Bernie to solve the mystery. So begins the most diplomatically sensitive case of his police career...

Seventeenth-century scientist, Steno, ‘the founder of geology’ set the stage for modern science by answering the question of how the fossils of seashells are found on the tops of mountains. At the same time Steno was entering the priesthood and ultimately became venerated as a saint.