Thriller writer Philip Kerr dies

LONDON: Scottish author Philip Kerr, the creator of the Nazi-era thrillers featuring detective Bernie Gunther, has died at the age of 62, his wife and publisher have announced.

Kerr, who also wrote the best-selling young adults series “Children of the Lamp” under the pen name P B Kerr, died on Friday. “RIP beloved Philip Kerr. Creator of the wonderful BernieGunther. Genius writer and adored father and husband. 1956-2018,” his wife Jane Thynne tweeted. Fellow Scottish author Ian Rankin said he was “numbed” by the news, which was also confirmed by Kerr´s publisher, Quercus Books. “His Bernie Gunther novels are extraordinary, a mix of great storytelling and brilliant research, with a believable (a)moral hero,” Rankin tweeted.

Kerr had just published the 13th novel in the series about a tough-talking, wise-cracking, womanising detective, which had drawn comparisons with Raymond Chandler and his protagonist Philip Marlowe.

The first draft of a 14th book was also complete, due for publication next year. Kerr blended fact and fiction in the books, set mostly in Berlin, as Gunther carried out investigations against the backdrop of the rise of the Nazis, whose reach he is always trying to escape.

Born in Edinburgh, Kerr studied law and philosophy at the University of Birmingham in central England, which drew his interest in Germany. This led to his first visits to Berlin, which he said was not so much a city as “a state of mind”.