Murder by the Sea

A fascinating political thriller and gentle love story, involving the West German terrorist group Red Army Faction, the RAF, and the East German secret police, the Stasi, based on the successful novel 'The Last Performance' by Ulrich Woelk.

The murder resembles an execution: when Hans Wolgast is killed by a shot to the head after a performance of Mozart‘s Magic Flute, his half-brother Inspector Anton Glauberg immediately suspects a connection with the past: Hans was once a member of the RAF. Without revealing his association with the victim, Anton begins to investigate, helped by the attractive though inexperienced CID inspector from the eastern part of Germany, Paula Reinhardt.
The trail takes them to Berlin, where several former terrorists still remain in contact with each other; that is, those who didn‘t move to East Germany in the 1980s, like Hans. One man who knew Hans at that time, Veith Seewald, reminds Anton that the murder of Hans resembles a case from 1978. Another member of the RAF, Christian Curland, was shot in the head after a performance of the Magic Flute. The case was never solved.
Another line of inquiry leads to the Stasi; after Hans emigrated to East Germany the secret police arranged for his wife Renate to spy on him, though she only learnt of his terrorist past when the files were opened after German reunification. Could disappointment have prompted her to kill Hans?
Now it becomes clear that Anton and Paula are being manipulated by a corrupt yet powerful organisation. But who could it be? Who has an interest in perverting the course of justice - and the opportunity to do so? Someone high up in the CID? Could Paula herself even be involved?