Philip Kerr Books in Order: The Bernie Gunther Novels

Bernie Gunther’s first published case takes him into Berlin in 1936, but the last novel in his series returns him to 1928. That jump gives readers two ways to arrange Philip Kerr’s books: by publication date or by the years in which the stories unfold.

For a first reading, follow the Bernie Gunther novels in publication order, beginning with March Violets. You will meet the detective as readers originally did, then see Kerr return to earlier episodes in his life. Each case has its own shape, while the books accumulate a history around their narrator.

Bernie Gunther Books in Order of Publication

For Philip Kerr books in order, start with these 14 Bernie Gunther novels as they first appeared. Years are first publication years; a US edition may have appeared in a later year. The author’s book list identifies the series, and the publisher’s series page describes its settings and cases.

1. March Violets (1989)
2. The Pale Criminal (1990)
3. A German Requiem (1991)
4. The One from the Other (2006)
5. A Quiet Flame (2008)
6. If the Dead Rise Not (2009)
7. Field Gray (2010; published as Field Grey in the UK)
8. Prague Fatale (2011)
9. A Man Without Breath (2013)
10. The Lady from Zagreb (2015)
11. The Other Side of Silence (2016)
12. Prussian Blue (2017)
13. Greeks Bearing Gifts (2018)
14. Metropolis (2019)

Use this list of Philip Kerr books in order when your aim is to follow the development of Gunther’s voice and the series as it appeared. In the publication sequence of Kerr’s books, there is a long gap between the third and fourth titles; the story resumes with the same detective in a changed postwar world.

The first three novels are also collected as Berlin Noir. An omnibus offers an easy route through the first three Kerr books in sequence, but it is a collection of those books, not a fourth case. Check the contents before buying if you already own any of the individual volumes.

Publication Order or Story Chronology?

Publication order and the order of Kerr’s Gunther stories by date are not the same. March Violets introduces Bernie as a private detective in Nazi Berlin. Metropolis, the fourteenth book published, goes back to his work as a young police detective in 1928. You can start with the later-written prequel if you want to meet him earlier in his career, then return to March Violets for the original introduction.

Even that approach cannot put every scene on a single straight line. Some novels move between periods. If the Dead Rise Not, for example, takes Bernie from 1934 Berlin to 1950s Havana. A strict ordering of Kerr’s books by their events would require interrupting the novel, so most readers will find it easier to keep each book intact and use its main settings as a guide.

In the fiction of Philip Kerr, Bernie Gunther moves through the Nazi years, war, and their long aftermath. Later cases send him beyond Berlin, including to Argentina, Greece, and the French Riviera. His past follows him, and a case in one period may change the meaning of a detail encountered in another. Reading Kerr’s books in the order of publication lets those returns arrive as the author released them.

Can You Read the Novels Separately?

Each Bernie Gunther book gives the detective a case with its own immediate questions. A reader who finds Prague Fatale on a shelf can follow its investigation without first finishing seven novels. Reading the Gunther books in sequence nevertheless rewards continuity: relationships, losses, and knowledge of Bernie’s choices gather weight as the books proceed.

That distinction also helps when sorting Philip Kerr’s novels into reading order. A book in the Gunther series can offer a largely self-contained mystery while still belonging to a continuing portrait of its detective. Kerr also wrote novels outside this sequence. For example, A Philosophical Investigation is a separate work, not a missing Gunther installment. If you are building a Bernie shelf, use the 14 titles above as your series checklist rather than treating every book by Kerr as part of the same story.

The reading order for the Bernie Gunther books can be flexible when a place or period draws you in. You may miss a reference to an earlier experience, but you can return to the first novel afterward and see where the character began for the original audience. Keep the title and edition in view when a book has an alternate regional spelling.

Which Book Should You Start With?

Choose March Violets for the clearest introduction to Bernie’s voice and to the series in its original sequence. Continue with The Pale Criminal and A German Requiem, or pick up Berlin Noir to have all three together. From there, the list of Philip Kerr books in order carries you into the later novels.

Choose Metropolis if you prefer an early-career case in 1928 and do not mind reading a prequel first. Afterward, go back to the publication sequence for the changes in time and place. If an individual setting matters more, try A Quiet Flame for postwar Argentina or Prague Fatale for a wartime investigation. Then use the Bernie Gunther books in order as a path through the cases you have yet to read.