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The Pale Criminal

138 statements
25 feature instances
2 referencing feature instances

The Pale Criminal	type	TVTItem
The Pale Criminal	label	The Pale Criminal
The Pale Criminal	page	ThePaleCriminal
The Pale Criminal	comment	The Pale Criminal is a 1990 novel by Philip Kerr. It is the second novel in the Bernhard "Bernie" Gunther detective series.Berlin, 1938, two years after the events of March Violets. The specter of war looms as Hitler is demanding that Czechoslovakia turn over the Sudetenland to Germany. Bernie Gunther is still working as a private detective. He's taken on a partner, his old police buddy Bruno Stahlecker, who has left the "Kripo" (criminal police) because he isn't an enthusiastic enough Nazi. They catch a case, when a wealthy publisher, Frau Lange, engages their services. Her son, Reinhard, is a homosexual, which in Nazi Germany is a criminal offense punishable by detention in a concentration camp. Someone has stolen the letters that Reinhard sent to his lover, noted psychiatrist Lanz Kindermann, and is selling them back to Frau Lange, one at a time.That investigation reaches a sudden, violent end. Bernie, however, soon gets an entirely different case. None other than Reinhard Heydrich essentially forces Bernie to return to the Kripo to investigate a serial killer case. Someone has been going around Berlin, raping and murdering teenaged girls. Heydrich forces Bernie back into the police and charges him with hunting down and catching the killer. Bernie discovers a dark conspiracy with connections to the blackmail case.The second book in the original "Berlin Noir" trilogy of Bernie Gunther novels, proceeded by March Violets and followed by A German Requiem.
The Pale Criminal	fetched	2023-10-22T23:15:00Z
The Pale Criminal	parsed	2023-10-22T23:15:00Z
The Pale Criminal	processingComment	Dropped link to AutoeroticAsphyxiation: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN
The Pale Criminal	processingComment	Dropped link to Blackmail: Not a Feature - ITEM
The Pale Criminal	processingComment	Dropped link to CallBack: Not a Feature - ITEM
The Pale Criminal	processingComment	Dropped link to HistoricalDomainCharacter: Not a Feature - IGNORE
The Pale Criminal	processingUnknown	AutoeroticAsphyxiation
The Pale Criminal	isPartOf	DBTropes
The Pale Criminal / int_19f527df	type	Blowing Smoke Rings
The Pale Criminal / int_19f527df	comment	Blowing Smoke Rings: The BdM girl (basically, Nazi Girl Scouts) who comes to Bernie's door collecting funds, blows "a perfect smoke-ring" in an effort to look more grown-up, as she's playing coquette for Bernie.
The Pale Criminal / int_19f527df	featureApplicability	1.0
The Pale Criminal / int_19f527df	featureConfidence	1.0
The Pale Criminal	hasFeature	The Pale Criminal / int_19f527df
The Pale Criminal / int_1f250372	type	I Need a Freaking Drink
The Pale Criminal / int_1f250372	comment	I Need a Freaking Drink: Nebe tells Bernie that Josef Kahn, the Jew who was tortured into confessing to the killings, was murdered by the government in the T-4 "euthanasia" program. After Bernie reacts to this by pinching his nose and talking about how he gets headaches, Nebe pours two drinks. Bernie pours himself a glass of brandy after accidentally overhearing Kindermann and Rahn engaging in gay sex.
The Pale Criminal / int_1f250372	featureApplicability	1.0
The Pale Criminal / int_1f250372	featureConfidence	1.0
The Pale Criminal	hasFeature	The Pale Criminal / int_1f250372
The Pale Criminal / int_20860a0e	type	Punch-Clock Villain
The Pale Criminal / int_20860a0e	comment	Punch-Clock Villain: Arthur Nebe is portrayed as this, as a man who has become disillusioned with Nazism and hopes to "change things from the inside". Given the ghastly crimes Nebe committed during the war this seems dubious, but he was part of the plot to kill Hitler in 1944.
The Pale Criminal / int_20860a0e	featureApplicability	1.0
The Pale Criminal / int_20860a0e	featureConfidence	1.0
The Pale Criminal	hasFeature	The Pale Criminal / int_20860a0e
The Pale Criminal / int_2dddd99d	type	False Flag Operation
The Pale Criminal / int_2dddd99d	comment	False Flag Operation: A particularly depraved one. There is no serial killer, not really. The series of murders is part of "Project Krist", a secret op by Rahn, Kindermann, and Weisthor, in which they murder German girls in a ritualistic way. They will then pin the murders on the Jews and use them as an excuse to start a pogrom.
The Pale Criminal / int_2dddd99d	featureApplicability	1.0
The Pale Criminal / int_2dddd99d	featureConfidence	1.0
The Pale Criminal	hasFeature	The Pale Criminal / int_2dddd99d
The Pale Criminal / int_4b1afa0d	type	Spiteful Spit
The Pale Criminal / int_4b1afa0d	comment	Spiteful Spit: Hildegarde spits in Bernie's face when he refuses to hit her during sex.
The Pale Criminal / int_4b1afa0d	featureApplicability	1.0
The Pale Criminal / int_4b1afa0d	featureConfidence	1.0
The Pale Criminal	hasFeature	The Pale Criminal / int_4b1afa0d
The Pale Criminal / int_4cb7f0d8	type	Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome
The Pale Criminal / int_4cb7f0d8	comment	Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: Bruno, Bernie's old cop buddy who is an important character in March Violets, returns as Bernie's new partner. He is killed in Chapter 5 when the surveillance of the blackmailer goes horribly wrong.
The Pale Criminal / int_4cb7f0d8	featureApplicability	1.0
The Pale Criminal / int_4cb7f0d8	featureConfidence	1.0
The Pale Criminal	hasFeature	The Pale Criminal / int_4cb7f0d8
The Pale Criminal / int_5c219298	type	Phony Psychic
The Pale Criminal / int_5c219298	comment	Phony Psychic: Karl Weisthor is a fake medium. He pretends to commune with the ghost of Emmeline Steininger, and reveals the location of her body. It's all part of a plot to pin the murders on the Jews and start an anti-Semitic pogrom.
The Pale Criminal / int_5c219298	featureApplicability	1.0
The Pale Criminal / int_5c219298	featureConfidence	1.0
The Pale Criminal	hasFeature	The Pale Criminal / int_5c219298
The Pale Criminal / int_63c6a75c	type	Evil Lawyer Joke
The Pale Criminal / int_63c6a75c	comment	Evil Lawyer Joke: When Frau Lange says she doesn't care much for lawyers, Bernie agrees, saying "I never met a lawyer yet that wasn't above stealing his mother's savings and the mattress she was keeping them under."
The Pale Criminal / int_63c6a75c	featureApplicability	1.0
The Pale Criminal / int_63c6a75c	featureConfidence	1.0
The Pale Criminal	hasFeature	The Pale Criminal / int_63c6a75c
The Pale Criminal / int_7b3ebb57	type	Buxom Beauty Standard
The Pale Criminal / int_7b3ebb57	comment	Buxom Beauty Standard: Once again, Bernie Gunther shows his appreciation for a nice rack. He admires the "pendulous breasts" of a nurse at the mental hospital. Frau vom Hofe, the psychotherapist who profiles the killer, has "fine breasts which strained at the material of her blouse."
The Pale Criminal / int_7b3ebb57	featureApplicability	1.0
The Pale Criminal / int_7b3ebb57	featureConfidence	1.0
The Pale Criminal	hasFeature	The Pale Criminal / int_7b3ebb57
The Pale Criminal / int_86e12b9a	type	City Noir
The Pale Criminal / int_86e12b9a	comment	City Noir: Another tale of Berlin under the Nazism, as Hitler's evil befouls everything, with crime and corruption and brutality in every level of society and government.
The Pale Criminal / int_86e12b9a	featureApplicability	1.0
The Pale Criminal / int_86e12b9a	featureConfidence	1.0
The Pale Criminal	hasFeature	The Pale Criminal / int_86e12b9a
The Pale Criminal / int_99f2522e	type	Hit Me, Dammit!
The Pale Criminal / int_99f2522e	comment	Hit Me, Dammit!: It turns out that Hildegarde is a masochist. They're about to have sex when she says "Hurt me, Bernie. Use me....Hurt me when I tell you." When he refuses to, she dumps him.
The Pale Criminal / int_99f2522e	featureApplicability	1.0
The Pale Criminal / int_99f2522e	featureConfidence	1.0
The Pale Criminal	hasFeature	The Pale Criminal / int_99f2522e
The Pale Criminal / int_9a1d239e	type	Been There, Shaped History
The Pale Criminal / int_9a1d239e	comment	Been There, Shaped History: As the Author's Note explains, Otto Rahn and Karl Weisthor both resigned from the SS, Rahn soon died under mysterious circumstances, and Julius Streicher was kicked out of office due to being too much of a scumbag even for the Nazis. These events, which happened in Real Life, are in the book due to Bernie's investigation.
The Pale Criminal / int_9a1d239e	featureApplicability	1.0
The Pale Criminal / int_9a1d239e	featureConfidence	1.0
The Pale Criminal	hasFeature	The Pale Criminal / int_9a1d239e
The Pale Criminal / int_9dab0a6e	type	Continuity Nod
The Pale Criminal / int_9dab0a6e	comment	Continuity Nod: When summoned to Gestapo headquarters, Bernie remembers being detained there in March Violets.
The Pale Criminal / int_9dab0a6e	featureApplicability	1.0
The Pale Criminal / int_9dab0a6e	featureConfidence	1.0
The Pale Criminal	hasFeature	The Pale Criminal / int_9dab0a6e
The Pale Criminal / int_9f80e1da	type	Sarcasm Mode
The Pale Criminal / int_9f80e1da	comment	Sarcasm Mode: When a Gestapo man angrily raps on Bernie's door at 4:30 am, he says "There was no mistaking their finishing-school manners."
The Pale Criminal / int_9f80e1da	featureApplicability	1.0
The Pale Criminal / int_9f80e1da	featureConfidence	1.0
The Pale Criminal	hasFeature	The Pale Criminal / int_9f80e1da
The Pale Criminal / int_a2b38d3b	type	Eye Scream
The Pale Criminal / int_a2b38d3b	comment	Eye Scream: One of Bernie's police underlings gets trigger-happy, firing his gun at a fleeing suspect. The bullet goes through the suspect's head and out his eye socket, exploding his eyeball.
The Pale Criminal / int_a2b38d3b	featureApplicability	1.0
The Pale Criminal / int_a2b38d3b	featureConfidence	1.0
The Pale Criminal	hasFeature	The Pale Criminal / int_a2b38d3b
The Pale Criminal / int_aed65980	type	All for Nothing
The Pale Criminal / int_aed65980	comment	All for Nothing: Bernie exposes the conspiracy to kill the girls, blame the Jews, and start an anti-Semitic pogrom. Except the pogrom, known to history as Kristallnacht, happens anyway, after a Jew shoots a German diplomat in Paris.
The Pale Criminal / int_aed65980	featureApplicability	1.0
The Pale Criminal / int_aed65980	featureConfidence	1.0
The Pale Criminal	hasFeature	The Pale Criminal / int_aed65980
The Pale Criminal / int_bcb4f1f1	type	You Just Told Me
The Pale Criminal / int_bcb4f1f1	comment	You Just Told Me: How Bernie, who suspects treachery, gets Frau Lange to admit that her son has gotten the incriminating letters back.
The Pale Criminal / int_bcb4f1f1	featureApplicability	1.0
The Pale Criminal / int_bcb4f1f1	featureConfidence	1.0
The Pale Criminal	hasFeature	The Pale Criminal / int_bcb4f1f1
The Pale Criminal / int_cb9aeb6a	type	Vigilante Man
The Pale Criminal / int_cb9aeb6a	comment	Vigilante Man: Bernie, knowing that Weisthor and Rahn will probably escape punishment due to their membership in the SS, decides that Kindermann, at least, should pay. So Bernie shoots him to death.
The Pale Criminal / int_cb9aeb6a	featureApplicability	1.0
The Pale Criminal / int_cb9aeb6a	featureConfidence	1.0
The Pale Criminal	hasFeature	The Pale Criminal / int_cb9aeb6a
The Pale Criminal / int_cfbd1467	type	Never Suicide
The Pale Criminal / int_cfbd1467	comment	Never Suicide: Hering, the blackmailer, is found hanging from a beam in his apartment. All Bernie has to do is look at his neck and see a second, separate ligature mark, to figure out that Hering actually was strangled.
The Pale Criminal / int_cfbd1467	featureApplicability	1.0
The Pale Criminal / int_cfbd1467	featureConfidence	1.0
The Pale Criminal	hasFeature	The Pale Criminal / int_cfbd1467
The Pale Criminal / int_dca97045	type	Just Following Orders
The Pale Criminal / int_dca97045	comment	Just Following Orders: Another cop says they should publicize the killings to help protect the teenaged girls of Berlin. Bernie says that he can't, and that he's "only obeying orders." He then feels ashamed for using the typical "German excuse".
The Pale Criminal / int_dca97045	featureApplicability	1.0
The Pale Criminal / int_dca97045	featureConfidence	1.0
The Pale Criminal	hasFeature	The Pale Criminal / int_dca97045
The Pale Criminal / int_e3847ee8	type	Cigarette of Anxiety
The Pale Criminal / int_e3847ee8	comment	Cigarette of Anxiety: Reinhard Heydrich once sent Bernie to Dachau, so Bernie needs a smoke when facing Heydrich again. He lights his cigarette "nervously".
The Pale Criminal / int_e3847ee8	featureApplicability	1.0
The Pale Criminal / int_e3847ee8	featureConfidence	1.0
The Pale Criminal	hasFeature	The Pale Criminal / int_e3847ee8
The Pale Criminal / int_ea7e3be8	type	Dramatic Gun Cock
The Pale Criminal / int_ea7e3be8	comment	Dramatic Gun Cock: When Bernie answers the anonymous letter summoning him to a meeting in the burned-out Reichstag, he does this on purpose, noisily chambering a round in his Mauser to let whoever called him there know that he is armed.
The Pale Criminal / int_ea7e3be8	featureApplicability	1.0
The Pale Criminal / int_ea7e3be8	featureConfidence	1.0
The Pale Criminal	hasFeature	The Pale Criminal / int_ea7e3be8
The Pale Criminal / int_f93c1fc1	type	Edgy Backwards Chair-Sitting
The Pale Criminal / int_f93c1fc1	comment	Edgy Backwards Chair-Sitting: Becker, who is excited to deliver his report on the Emmeline Steininger case, turns a chair around and sits in it "with his forearms leaning on the back."
The Pale Criminal / int_f93c1fc1	featureApplicability	1.0
The Pale Criminal / int_f93c1fc1	featureConfidence	1.0
The Pale Criminal	hasFeature	The Pale Criminal / int_f93c1fc1
The Pale Criminal / int_fd7f0823	type	Distinguished Gentleman's Pipe
The Pale Criminal / int_fd7f0823	comment	Distinguished Gentleman's Pipe: Subverted. Bernie's partner Bruno smokes a pipe, but Bernie finds pipes profoundly irritating.
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The Pale Criminal	hasFeature	The Pale Criminal / int_fd7f0823
The Pale Criminal / int_name	type	ItemName
The Pale Criminal / int_name	comment
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The Pale Criminal	hasFeature	The Pale Criminal / int_name
The Pale Criminal / int_name	itemName	The Pale Criminal

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

	The Pale Criminal	hasFeature	Blowing Smoke Rings / int_925f9b11
	The Pale Criminal	hasFeature	Hit Me, Dammit! / int_925f9b11

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