Iron alone can save us, and only blood can redeem us
Meet Gabriel Landow: reluctant detective in the real Berlin of the German Empire. Snooping on little infidelities is the daily routine of his struggling detective agency in the squalid Berlin district of Kreuzberg. Gabriel Landow, the black sheep of his East Prussian corn squire family, is not exactly successful. But then a victim falls right at his feet out of the night-black sky in the middle of a prohibited area at Tempelhof Field, most likely thrown from the basket of a military balloon.
The body is that of a minor ministry official involved, nonetheless, in a secret naval project. But it is the third death of this kind; all the victims were clutching a Brothers Grimm book. Suddenly another mystery unfolds: Why is the government entrusting Landow of all people with this investigation? The arson attack on him shortly after adds to the mystery. Who would be in any way interested in the death of such a small-time investigator? While all of Berlin – and Europe, for that matter – awaits the death of the terminally ill Kaiser, some look forward to his demise…
