The truth will out.

Author : David Young
Title : A Darker State
Published : 0/02/2018
Pages : 384
Genre : Crime Thriller
Publisher : Zaffre

     The body of a teenage boy is found weighted down in a lake. Karin Müller, newly appointed Major of the People's Police, is called to investigate. But her power will only stretch so far, when every move she makes is under the watchful eye of the Stasi. Then, when the son of Müller's team member goes missing, it quickly becomes clear that there is a terrifying conspiracy at the heart of this case, one that could fast lead Müller and her young family into real danger. Can she navigate this complex political web and find the missing boy, before it's too late?

     Once again I have returned to an author whose book I have enjoyed greatly in the past. Stasi Child and Stasi Wolf were books that I found to be fascinating reads, this is in large part to the choice of setting by the author. This series of books is one of the only ones I have come across in the crime genre to be set in the D.D.R. And throughout the previous book's the author took great care to bring this world back to life. All these touches help to bring the words off the page and into the real world. So once I learned that a new book in the series had come out I was greatly looking forward to getting my hands on it.

     Returning to the world of Müller is like paying a visit to old friends. Having followed her through the adventures of the last two books It was good to see how she would cope with this new case. This time we also get to see how she copes with the dual world of crime investigation and being a mother to her newborn twins. As you would imagine at times trying to find balance in her life proves to be a struggle and if not for the help of family I think she would have carried off the rails. Having been promoted once more she now faces a whole new level of scrutiny on her work. Throughout the case as ever she has the Stasi breathing down her neck. While face may change the Stasi works as its own character within these books. It allows for a duality to play out in the book being able to see how the state try's to push Müller to come to conclusions that suit the official view of how wonderful the D.D.R is. 

     With this incarnation, the author chose to tackle the subject of homosexuality within the German state. While not illegal it was defiantly not something that was outspoken about and was most defiantly a source of blackmail for the Stasi. The author chooses to go about this in a very honest and upfront way. He shows the struggle that these men went through in the fight to be free to love who they choose. All these choice build up to be a diverse and complicated plot, that asks greater questions about how we judge others. While this book is shorter than the previous two it doesn't feel any the worse off for it. This book switches between the present murder investigation and six months previous both coming together to give a more rounded and full view of the events that led up to why the murder took place.  

     The author ones again crafted an interesting tale set within the cold war. I like that his story talk about the everyday people held captive within a system that was desperate to keep control of them.  For most other author books set within this time frame and placing are about some grand spy adventure between America and communist Germany. I think it allows for readers to better connect with his characters and Müller is someone who I have to come to love spending time with. Both in seeing how she fights to solve a case and how I've come to learn more about her as a person. This is a tense and solid mystery book that also touches on subjects that for some are a hard struggle of there everyday lives.