Get people talking about books and authors and you will have a conversation that will continue long into an evening. When it comes to murder mysteries, thrillers and whodunits, critiquing methods of murder and probability of success is in the blood (so to speak.)

Discovering new to me authors is always a joy. Last year I came across the Berlin Noir trilogy, a book series by award winning Scottish author Philip Kerr that features PI Bernie Gunther. The series begins in the 1930s and his early clients are mostly Jews whose loved ones are missing – little wonder. A former homicide detective in Berlin’s Kripo, Bernie resigned after 11-years when he realized that the political arena now included his department and he could no longer deal with the party members.

There are now nine books in the series, the most recent, “A Man Without Breath,” was released in April of this year. I have a few books to go before I get to that one. I was quite chuffed to discover that Tom Hanks will be producing the series on HBO sometime in 2014.

Any suggestions about who could bring to life a rough, chain-smoking, smart mouthed PI in 1930s Berlin?

Order Berlin Noir by Philip Kerr