Philip Kerr Books

Description /Buy link takes you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.

Author Philip Kerr is a British man and was born in Edinburgh in February of 1956. He went to grammar school in Northampton, and would go to college at the University of Birmingham from 1974 until 1980 and was able to get his master’s degree in the subjects of law and philosophy. After learning nothing as an undergraduate lawyer, he stayed on to do postgraduate work and studied Law and Philosophy further.

Print:

Kerr would study a lot of German things too and that is where he gained an interest in German history in the twentieth century, the Nazis especially. Kerr has said that both he and the Germans have a sense of humor that is closer to the dark side of things, and that helps him write about Germany in one of his novel series. He worked at a firm called Saatchi and Saatchi as well as other firms, working as an advertising copywriter (producing nothing worthy of note), but would become a full time writer in the year 1989. Some of his time at these advertising firms was spent researching a novel he had an idea for that was about a German police officer, working in the mid 1930s. Kerr even took several trips to Germany to get everything just right before he was able to released his first novel called “March Violets”. His work has been published in the Evening Standard, New Statesman, and The Sunday Times. Kerr is married to fellow author named Jane Thynne and they have three kids together.

Philip Kerr has written the “Scott Manson” series, the “Bernie Gunther” series and some stand alone work. These novels are from the historical, crime, mystery, and thriller genres. The “Bernie Gunther” novels are set in Nazi Germany, but some are set after the fall of the Nazis (starting in the mid thirties). He has also written some non fiction and some children’s fiction (which includes the “Children of the Lamp” series) that was released under the name P.B. Kerr.

PHILIP KERR AWARDS

Granta put Philip Kerr on their list of the Best Young British Novelists. His novel “If the Dead Rise Not” won the RBA International Prize for Crime Writing, which is an award that is quite lucrative. It also won British Crime Writers’s Association’s Ellis Peters Historic Crime Award.

PHILIP KERR BOOKS INTO MOVIES/TV

“Dead Meat”, a stand alone novel, was adapted into a television series in Britain under the name of “Grushko”.

BEST PHILIP KERR BOOKS

For those looking to get into Philip Kerr’s work, this next section will help with that. It will look at the novels: “March Violets”, “The Pale Criminal”, and “January Window”.

March Violets: This is the first book in the “Bernie Gunther” series that was released in 1989. It is set in 1936 and is a historical detective novel. Bernhard used to be a cop, but is now a 38 year old private detective. He is hired by a industrialist with money named Hermann Six to get a diamond necklace back for him that was stolen from his daughter Grete’s place. As part of the robbery, the house was torched and both Grete and her husband (Paul Pfarr) were killed. Paul, come to find out, was SS and was at odds with Hermann, and was trying to get rid of corruption in the government. He was following Himmler’s orders.

The Pale Criminal: This is the second book in the “Bernie Gunther” series that was released in 1990. It is set in 1938, two years after the events of the first novel. Bernie has taken on a partner in another ex-cop who is named Bruno Stahlecker. They are working a case that involves a woman named Frau Lange, who owns a giant publishing company and is being blackmailed due to love letters that her son Reinhardt sent to his lover and psychotherapist named Dr. Kindermann.

January Window: This is the first book in the “Scott Manson” series that was released in 2014. The novel is set in the glamorous and corrupt world of Premier League Soccer. Scott Manson is the coach of the London City football team, but he also fixes things for them, too. He gets them into training and out of trouble; keeps the press in his pocket and the WAGs from being too difficult. He has the trust of his bosses and the love from his players. London City manager named Joao Zarco has died and is killed at the team’s stadium (Silvertown Docks). Manson cannot really smooth this over, how can you smooth over someone getting murdered? But the bigger question is whether or not he can catch the killer before they strike again.

When Does The Next Philip Kerr book come out?

Philip Kerr doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is Metropolis and was released on April, 4th 2019. It is the newest book in the Bernie Gunther Series.

Home » Author » Philip Kerr