The post-war period brought peace and prosperity. The Wild East is no longer wild, only occasionally do scattered Soviet units behind the Urals still attack the Wehrmacht administration and German settlers. Sturmbannführer Reuter is a detective at heart and entered the SS reluctantly. He finds himself transferred far from home to the East as a district leader and sits behind a desk all day, pushing paper rather than hunting criminals. One day he comes across a cold case that appears to have a number of loose ends, despite Berlin's emphatic claim that it is all over. As he looks further into the case, he stumbles across an unbelievable crime. Could it be the reason why Nazi Germany won World War II? Is it the foundation for the Third Reich in 1980? There are some influential people in the party who aren't keen on the case being brought back to light... In this alternative reality, in which the Russians have been defeated and the other Allies agree terms with Germany, the Third Reich is now everyday life. However, even 40 years later, it is still no bed of roses as the zealous detective discovers when he unexpectedly finds himself being hunted and his superiors in the SS and GeStaPo resort to tried and tested means... A remarkable and exuberant detective story full of twists and turns that begins where Robert Harris's "Fatherland" leaves off.