East Berlin, 1975 and Karin Muller is struggling through the days in a boring, dead end job after having turned down a job in State Security. She reluctantly accepts leading a team investigating the kidnapping of newborn twins. This means temporarily moving to Halle-Neustadt, a new town housing the workers of a chemical plant. Severely hampered by the Stasi, who watch her every move, Karin nevertheless slowly claws her way to the truth. We also delve into her personal life, with more insight into her past, which I enjoyed as it fleshed out her character.
The claustrophobic feel of East Germany and the obvious intense research by the author make for a fascinating read. Entertaining and educational, this is was a real treat for me.
Thank you, Netgalley, Bonnier Zaffre and David Young for the eARC.

I liked this novel even better than the first one, even though some of the coincidences in the story line were a little much. The character of Karin Muller is becoming more interesting and rounded and I like the atmosphere of these books. The author does a very good job adding details to the story that make the former GDR setting more realistic. Great for people with an interest in that time period. I will be looking forward to the third book in this series.

Wow! David Young does it again. Set in East Germany in 1976, Karen Muller is back as head of a murder squad. This time the story gets personal. It is also hindered by the Stasi. Told from Karin's perspective, and that of others involved, this book is totally gripping. It is also unpredictable. Would thoroughly recommend it an look forward to #3.

This is the second book featuring Karin Muller, after the excellent “Stasi Child.” We meet up with Muller again in East Berlin, 1975; a few months after the events in the first novel. Having turned down a job in State Security, Muller finds herself divorced and side lined at work. No longer working in the murder squad, her career seems to have hit something of a dead end. However, she is then approached about a difficult, and sensitive, case in the new town of Halle-Neustadt.

Halle-Neustadt is a new town in East Germany – designed as a worker’s paradise and about to be shown off to visiting dignitary Fidel Castro. The town is a confusing place, with no street names, but Muller knows that she needs to get local law enforcement on side if she is to succeed in her task. Two newborn babies have been abducted from a local hospital and, from the start, Muller finds that her investigation is hampered by the Stasi. They block her carrying out door to door searches or, in fact, doing anything which will publicise the crime and cause any embarrassment to the authorities.

This is an interesting novel, with a good sense of history and of East Germany during those times. However, a lot of the storyline in this book actually delves into the past and, specifically, to Muller’s past. She is a woman who, despite being sent on a case near her family home, feels unwilling to return to a place where she never really felt comfortable. However, in this novel we get more of her back story and this runs alongside the investigation of the crime.

The author manages to keep all the different threads of the book together, but only just, and sometimes it stretches incredulity just a little too far, with too many links between the characters and what feels like a (very) rushed romantic storyline for Muller herself. Still, an interesting crime novel, a good sense of time and place and Muller herself is a sympathetic character that I really like. As such, I am sure I will read on. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

This is a bleak, intense and well researched novel set in 1975 East Germany. It captures that particular period of time in an authentic manner and what it must have been like to live in that country. Halle-Neustadt is a new town built outside Berlin, and it is a prestigious place as far as the government is concerned. It has been planned to levels of details that seem unimaginable, such as what constitutes acceptable behaviour from its citizens. It is to be the blueprint for other planned towns and nothing but nothing is to taint its reputation. Detective Karin Muller is the Oberleutnant in the Kripo, and has been moved from the murder squad.

Karin and her team are to look into the missing Salzmann newborn twins who have disappeared from the hospital. This entails her going to Halle-Neustadt and finding she is under heavy surveillance from the Stasi. They insist on a below the radar investigation with tight restrictions and refuse to allow meaningful questions to be asked. However, this does not prevent the team from digging deeper and negotiating their way through the political barriers. They discover that there is much more to the case than missing children. This is a story of twists and connections to the past,

You get a real feel for the time and place in East Germany. It is an atmospheric, claustrophobic and gripping read imbued with the country's history, repressive culture, architecture, political machinations and paranoia. There is an air of menace in the role that the Stasi play and the consequent lack of trust that people have. Karin's traumatic backstory, personal issues and the developments in her personal life make her a compelling central character. A highly recommended read. Thanks to Bonnier Zaffre for an ARC.

Second book in the Karin Müller series and better than the last and yet you don't need to have read the last to make sense of this! That is the mark of a good writer!! There is a thread of the Russian post war occupation of Germany running through the story which I enjoyed and of course the ever present Stasi makes for a chilling read! The author has created a wonderful character in Karin that as you get to know more about her the more you want to know! Well paced and high addictive, I cannot wait for more!!

Really enjoyed thjs crime novel, it did take a wee while for me to get into.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Bonnier Zaffre for an advance copy of Stasi Wolf, the second novel to feature Oberleutnant (first lieutenant) Karin Muller of the DDR state police.

It is 1975 and Karin is no longer head of the murder squad but reduced to grunt work better suited to uniform officers, so when the chance comes to investigate the disappearance of week old twins, one missing, one found dead, presumed murdered, she jumps at it. The only drawback is that it is not in Berlin but Halle Neustadt, the DDR's model for socialist living in the south of the country. Still, it will give her the chance to visit her estranged family and ask a few pointed questions. However, once she gets to Halle she soon finds a few more drawbacks, like the Stasi's insistence on keeping the case case quiet and the investigation discreet or their not so subtle control of the whole process.

Wow! What a great read. It has a bit of everything and a cracking plot. There is history, political intrigue, action and a few surprises of a personal nature for Karin. I thought Stasi Child, the first book in the series was a great read but Stasi Wolf is even better as it seems more seamless and polished. It works well as a stand alone for anyone who hasn't read Stasi Child.

I think most people nowadays are aware of the Stasi's pervasive and malign influence through all strata of society but the novel really makes you aware of how it worked on a daily basis with comrades unable to trust their closest friends and colleagues and yet Karin still has a belief in the socialist system and often manages to get the Stasi to see her point of view and if not, get her own way through a loose interpretation or manipulation of their orders. It makes for fascinating reading to see her manage within the straitjacket imposed on her investigation.

The DDR was formed from the Russian occupied territories after the war and in 1975 is only about 25 years old. It is interesting that many of the inhabitants are older than the country and have personal histories shaped by the war and the Russian occupation. This is a bit of a theme running through the novel but you'll have to read it to find out how! (I'm not issuing any spoilers).

Stasi Wolf is a splendid piece of historical writing and social commentary but it also has a very good plot. With so many constrictions hampering her investigation Karin finds it difficult to move forward but there is always one little nugget of information uncovered to keep the reader turning the pages and wondering what will come next and there are a few twists towards the conclusion which really ramp up the tension and the wow factor.

This is another novel which will make my top ten reads of 2017 so I have no hesitation in recommending it as a great read.

Detective Karen Müller is dying of boredom. After her last case with the homicide division of Kripo, she turned down a job with the Stasi (secret police) & was “rewarded” with a transfer to petty crimes. So when she’s asked to look into the disappearance of newborn twins, she accepts but with reservations. She’ll have to travel to Halle-Neustadt, a newly built town outside of East Berlin. And she’ll be under the watchful eye of the Stasi.

It ’s 1975 & Halle-Neustadt is the pride & joy of the DDR’s socialist government. It’s a model town where every detail was carefully selected from the layout of nameless streets to acceptable behaviour for its chosen citizens. Plans are in the works for other towns based on the prototype & nothing can be allowed to tarnish its image. So when the Salzmann twins are snatched from the hospital, the Stasi quickly steps in & puts a lid on the investigation. Karen arrives to head up the case in name only & is soon frustrated by their smothering restrictions. How do you investigate when you’re not allowed to ask questions?

In alternating chapters, we meet Franziska & her husband Hansi. Their story begins in 1965 while they await the birth of a long wanted child. As we gradually follow their lives to the present day, it soon becomes clear there’s something odd about their relationship & each chapter is creepier than the last.

Karen & her team get creative about gathering information & the case soon snowballs to encompass much, much more than just missing babies. As the plot lines play out, you are always aware of the time & place of the setting. Descriptions of identical concrete buildings, waiting lists & the grim reality of every day provide constant reminders of life under communist rule. You can feel the pervasive fear of a people encouraged to inform on their neighbour or face the consequences. It’s almost dystopian & provides a sinister undercurrent running through the background of the story.

Karen is a complex & sympathetic character. We get to know her through childhood memories & recent history. Some of these have ties to the present & the investigation becomes both deadly & personal. And while she manages to solve some aspects of the case, it comes at a huge cost. Echoes from her time in Halle-Neustadt & big changes in her private life will follow her back to East Berlin & no doubt set the stage for book #3 of this tense, atmospheric series.