The Sleepwalkers

A Jewish police detective in Weimar Berlin investigates a woman’s murder as his own life becomes endangered in this hard-boiled mystery series debut.

Kirkus Best Debut Fiction

NPR Top Five Mysteries of the Year

“Remarkable. . . . Grossman has re-created Germany on the eve of the Third Reich with extraordinary skill, sensitivity, and narrative flair.” —David Liss, New York Times–bestselling author of The Devil’s Conspiracy

In the final weeks of the Weimar Republic, as Hitler and his National Socialist party angle to assume control of Germany, beautiful girls are seen sleepwalking through the streets. Then, a young woman of mysterious origin, with her legs bizarrely deformed, is pulled dead from the Havel River. Willi Kraus, a high-ranking detective in Berlin’s police force, begins a murder investigation. A decorated World War I hero and the nation's most famous detective, Willi also is a Jew. Despite his elite status in the criminal police, he is disturbed by the direction Germany is taking. Working urgently to solve the murder, Willi finds his superiors diverting him at every turn. As he moves through darkness closer to the truth, Willi begins to understand that much more than the solution to a murder is at stake—life in Germany will never be the same.

“This debut novel powerfully captures the atmosphere of Berlin on the verge of Nazi takeover, the elegance and cultural brilliance amid the decadence, and the sense of impending doom.” —Library Journal (starred review)

“Inventive . . . It’s a testament to how endearing the industrious Willi is that readers will find themselves wanting to shake him by the shoulders and tell him to wake up before it’s too late.” —The Washington Post