City of shadows : [a novel of suspense

As a killer stalks Weimar Berlin, a Russian woman with a mysterious past is drawn into an audacious scheme in this historical thriller. Berlin, 1922 . Scarred by the Great War, the German capital struggles to regain a glimmer of its former glory. Among the troubled city's influx of refugees, Esther Solomonova survives by working for the charming, unscrupulous cabaret owner "Prince" Nick. But now she finds herself roped into his latest shady endeavor: passing off a young asylum patient as Grand Duchess Anastasia, the last surviving heir to the murdered czar of Russia. Pulling off such a hoax could lead to a fortune. But their found "princess," Anna Anderson, fears that she's being hunted. And this may turn out to be more than paranoia when innocent people all around her begin to die. A cultured city scarred by war.An eastern emigre with scars and secrets ofher own. A young woman who claims tobe a Russian grand duchess. A brazen killer,as vicious as he is clever. A detectivedriven by decency and the desire for justice.A political movement growing in power. . . . Deeply atmospheric, peopled with rich, complex characters, City of Shadows is an enthralling novel of historical suspense set in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s — a decadent, turbulent time in which a proud nation scarred by defeat, deprivation, and debauchery will become the fertile breeding ground for the rise of National Socialism.Berlin, 1922 — one of this troubled city's growing number of refugees, Esther Solomonova survives by working as secretary to her fellow Russian emigre, "Prince"Nick, a scheming adventurer and cabaret owner. Always on the prowl for a deal, Nick smells money when he hears of a woman in an asylum claiming to be a grand duchess, daughter of the Czar of all the Russias, who escaped the assassination of the rest of her family by the Bolsheviks. Enlisting a highly suspicious Esther, Nick plans to prepare the woman — known as Anna Anderson — to claim the Romanov fortune.But Anna is being hunted. Or so she claims. At first Esther believes Anna's fear to be just in her imagination — until innocent people around them begin to die. So in a Berlin stricken by hyperinflation, Esther enlists the help of a German police officer — a dogged inspector named Schmidt — to try and find out who wants Anna dead — and why. Yet the deeper she and Schmidt dig, the more they realize that their own lives are at risk. A cultured city scarred by war. . . . An eastern #233;migr#233; with scars and secrets of her own. . . . A young woman claiming to be a Russian grand duchess. . . . A brazen killer, as vicious as he is clever. . . . A detective driven by decency and the desire for justice. . . . A nightmare political movement steadily gaining power. . . . This is 1922 Berlin. One of the troubled city's growing number of refugees, Esther Solomonova survives by working as secretary to the charming, unscrupulous cabaret owner "Prince" Nick, and she's being drawn against her will into his scheme to pass a young asylum patient off as Anastasia, the last surviving heir to the murdered czar of all Russia. But their found "princess," Anna Anderson, fears that she's being hunted#8212;and this may turn out to be more than paranoia when innocent people all around her begin to die. A cultured city scarred by war. . . . An eastern émigré with scars and secrets of her own. . . . A young woman claiming to be a Russian grand duchess. . . . A brazen killer, as vicious as he is clever. . . . A detective driven by decency and the desire for justice. . . . A nightmare political movement steadily gaining power. . . . This is 1922 Berlin. One of the troubled city's growing number of refugees, Esther Solomonova survives by working as secretary to the charming, unscrupulous cabaret owner "Prince" Nick, and she's being drawn against her will into his scheme to pass a young asylum patient off as Anastasia, the last surviving heir to the murdered czar of all Russia. But their found "princess," Anna Anderson, fears that she's being hunted--and this may turn out to be more than paranoia when innocent people all around her begin to die Esther, a bookkeeper at a decadent Berlin nightclub, meets an enigmatic woman who claims to be Anastasia, the surviving daughter of the last Tsar. The possible Russian princess is being followed by a serial killer, and the stage is set for a thrilling mystery that builds to a, literally, jaw-dropping ending In turbulent Berlin of the 1920s and 1930s, Nick, a scheming cabaret owner, attempts to pass off a woman in a local asylum as the Grand Duchess Anastasia, daughter of the murdered Russian czar, in order to claim the Romanov fortune Title from ebook title screen (viewed on May 16, 2006).