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Series · historical mystery

Hannah Vogel

by Rebecca Cantrell

The Hannah Vogel series by Rebecca Cantrell has 4 known books (4 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with A Trace of Smoke (2009).

Books
4 known books (4 novels)
Published
4
First published
2009
Status
completed
Last checked

Start here: A Trace of Smoke (2009) — then read straight through in publication order.

Book one

Cover of A Trace of Smoke

A Trace of Smoke (2009)

Reading order

The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.

  1. A Trace of Smoke

    Novel

    A Trace of Smoke (2009) opens the series as Berlin crime reporter Hannah Vogel finds a photograph of her missing brother among the police's unidentified dead, investigating his death while hiding that he was gay and that she is secretly raising his son.

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  2. A Night of Long Knives

    Novel

    A Night of Long Knives (2010) plunges Hannah into the actual 1934 purge that gives the book its title, running 320 pages, twenty more than the opener.

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  3. A Game of Lies

    Novel

    A Game of Lies (2011) matches the previous book's 320 pages as Berlin crime reporter Hannah Vogel's investigations continue through the escalating terror of the 1930s, protecting her adopted son as Rebecca Cantrell's series moves toward Kristallnacht.

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  4. A City of Broken Glass

    Novel

    At 334 pages, A City of Broken Glass (2012) is the longest of the four novels, closing out Hannah Vogel's story amid the Nazi terror of Kristallnacht.

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About the Hannah Vogel series

Hannah Vogel is a crime reporter working in Berlin as the Nazi party tightens its grip on Germany, using her press credentials and her nose for a story to investigate crimes the authorities would rather leave buried. A Trace of Smoke (2009) opens the series as Hannah discovers a photograph of her missing brother in the police files of unidentified dead -- and has to investigate his death herself while hiding the fact that he was gay, and that she is raising his son, from a regime that would kill them both for either secret. A Night of Long Knives (2010) plunges Hannah into the actual historical purge of the same name, Hitler's 1934 killing of political rivals, forcing her into direct danger from the machinery of the Nazi state.

A Game of Lies (2011) and A City of Broken Glass (2012) continue Hannah's story through the escalating terror of the 1930s, culminating around Kristallnacht, as she works to protect her adopted son and the people she loves while the country around her collapses into open persecution. Rebecca Cantrell, an American writer who spent years living in Berlin, grounds the series in careful period research, and the Edgar Award-nominated series is as much about ordinary moral courage under an increasingly totalitarian state as it is a conventional mystery.

Frequently asked questions

How many Hannah Vogel books are there?

Four: A Trace of Smoke (2009), A Night of Long Knives (2010), A Game of Lies (2011), and A City of Broken Glass (2012).

What order should I read the Hannah Vogel books in?

Publication order, starting with A Trace of Smoke. The series follows continuous character and historical arcs across all four books.

What is the Hannah Vogel series about?

A crime reporter in Nazi-era Berlin investigating her brother's death and, across the series, the escalating danger to her adopted son and the people around her as Hitler's regime tightens its hold on Germany through the 1930s.

Is the Hannah Vogel series historically accurate?

It's grounded in careful period research -- A Night of Long Knives is built around the real 1934 political purge of that name, and A City of Broken Glass culminates around the historical events of Kristallnacht.

Is the Hannah Vogel series connected to Order of the Sanguines?

No -- it's a separate, unrelated series by Rebecca Cantrell. Order of the Sanguines is her collaboration with James Rollins, tracked on its own series page on this site.

Reading order last verified .