Fatherland (novel)

Fatherland is a 1992 alternative history detective novel by English writer and journalist Robert Harris. Set in a universe in which Nazi Germany won World War II, the story's protagonist is an officer of the Kripo, the criminal police, who is investigating the murder of a Nazi government official who participated at the Wannsee Conference. A plot is thus discovered to eliminate all of those who attended the conference, to help improve German relations with the United States. The novel subverts some of the conventions of the detective novel. It begins with a murder and diligent police detective investigating and eventually solving it. However, since the murderer is highly placed in the Nazi regime, solving the mystery does not result in the detective pursuing and arresting the murderer. The contrary occurs: the murderer pursuing and arresting the detective. The novel was an immediate best-seller in the UK and has sold over three million copies and been translated into 25 languages. The novel opens in Nazi Germany in April 1964 during the week leading up to the 75th birthday of Adolf Hitler, Detective Xavier March is an investigator working for the Kriminalpolizei (Kripo), as he investigates the suspicious death of a high-ranking Nazi, Josef Bühler, in the Havel on the outskirts of Berlin. As March uncovers more details, he realises that he is caught up in a political scandal involving senior Nazi Party officials, who are apparently being systematically murdered under staged circumstances. As soon as the body is identified, the Gestapo claims jurisdiction and orders the Kripo to close its investigation. March meets with Charlotte 'Charlie' Maguire, an American journalist. Both are determined to investigate the case and travel to Zürich to investigate the private Swiss bank account of one of the murdered officials. Unfortunately they find no papers but only stolen treasure and return empty handed.