A Philosophical Investigation

A terrifyingly prescient cult classic by the author of the Berlin Noir trilogy

LONDON, 2013. Serial killings have reached epidemic proportions-even with the widespread government use of DNA detection, brain-imaging, and the "punitive coma." Beautiful, whip-smart, and driven by demons of her own, Detective Isadora "Jake" Jacowicz must stop a murderer, code-named "Wittgenstein," who has taken it upon himself to eliminate any man who has tested posi­tive for a tendency towards violent behavior-even if his victim has never committed a crime.

Philip Kerr is winning more acclaim than ever for his beloved Bernie Gunther series and-with Kerr's higher profile-A Philosophical Investigation is poised to capture an all-new readership with its riveting tale of a killer whose intellectual brilliance is matched only by his homicidal madness.

A powerful, thought-provoking thriller set in London in 2013 with a difference that takes the reader on a terrifying journey into the head of a serial killer and to the heart of murder itself. Kerr has produced an unusual work of suspense which puts him at the front ranks in the genre. Movie rights optioned by Paramount Pictures.

A terrifyingly prescient cult classic by the author of the Berlin Noir trilogy

LONDON, 2013. Serial killings have reached epidemic proportions-even with the widespread government use of DNA detection, brain-imaging, and the "punitive coma." Beautiful, whip-smart, and driven by demons of her own, Detective Isadora "Jake" Jacowicz must stop a murderer, code-named "Wittgenstein," who has taken it upon himself to eliminate any man who has tested posi­tive for a tendency towards violent behavior-even if his victim has never committed a crime.

Philip Kerr is winning more acclaim than ever for his beloved Bernie Gunther series and-with Kerr's higher profile-A Philosophical Investigation is poised to capture an all-new readership with its riveting tale of a killer whose intellectual brilliance is matched only by his homicidal madness.

Publishers Weekly

Semantics, epistemology and serial murder share center stage in this imaginative but unconvincing near-future thriller. The year is 2013, and European researchers have discovered a physiological basis for violent criminal tendencies in men. The Lombroso program in Britain screens possible subjects and maintains a database of those diagnosed with the condition, as aids to law enforcement--serial killings have become terrifyingly common. When a previously law-abiding pharmacist is diagnosed as ``VDM-negative'' (potentially dangerous), he breaks into the program's computer system, removes his name from the records and begins systematically assassinating other men on the list. In London, Chief Inspector Isadora ``Jake'' Jakowicz takes on the case and begins a philosophical cat-and-mouse game with the killer, code-named Wittgenstein. Kerr ( A German Requiem ) interpolates passages from the murderer's journals into the third-person narrative, along with citations from the works of Ludwig Wittgenstein and other philosophers. But the cliches and improbabilities of the plot are not camouflaged by their outlandish context, as Kerr overplays his most original ideas, delivering the details of his futuristic vision in a distracting gee-whiz manner. The frequent philosophical discussions, as they are drawn out, become less convincing and more ostentatious. (Apr.)

Philip Kerr is the author of twenty-one novels. He lives in London and Cornwall, England.