The Russian Donation (Dr. Hoffmann, 1)

Spielberg, Christoph

3.42

363 ratings by Goodreads

9781469209814: The Russian Donation (Dr. Hoffmann, 1)

ISBN 10: 1469209810 ISBN 13: 9781469209814

Publisher: Brilliance Audio, 2013

Doctor Felix Hoffmann’s life is textbook success: a seasoned physician at a Berlin hospital, respected by colleagues, and devoted to his amorous and intelligent girlfriend Celine. It’s a life filled with medical work, televised soccer games, and the chill of German beer.

Yet, when a former patient shows up dead by causes unknown, Hoffmann signs a death certificate that may be his own. Curiosity and sheer medical devotion propel him to investigate. However, his autopsy order goes unfulfilled as the body is cremated and hospital records vanish. Soon, Hoffmann discovers a diagnosis of conspiratorial proportions. The deeper he scans, the darker it gets, until a criminal clue emerges from Russia. Despite adversity, Hoffmann is determined to sleuth through with his own brand of logic and the aid of Celine’s powers of deduction.

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About the Author:

Cardiologist and Agatha Christie prize-winning author Christoph Spielberg lives in Berlin, Germany, where his mystery novels have gained national notoriety. Spielberg was awarded the prestigious Friedrich Glauser prize from the German Crime Writers Association for The Russian Donation, the first in his ongoing Dr. Hoffmann crime series, and his books have been translated into both English and Japanese. Critical acclaim for the Dr. Hoffmann series has prompted the German ZDF television network to produce a run of TV movies based on the novels. Today, Spielberg continues to draw from his medical experience, writing novels, short stories, and providing medical care to his patients.

From Booklist:

(Starred review) Originally published in Germany in 2001, the first book in the Dr. Hoffman series is a real corker. Dr. Felix Hoffman is an emergency-room doctor who is saddened by the death of a former patient, who not so long ago seemed to have nothing seriously wrong with him. Hoffman’s mood quickly turns to anger when he learns that the paperwork has been altered, rewritten to attribute an almost certainly false cause of death and to eliminate the possibility of an autopsy. Determined to get to the bottom of it, Hoffman stumbles into an intricate conspiracy that reaches from the bowels of the hospital to its highest offices. Spielberg, a physician, made a bit of a splash in Germany with this first novel, and it’s easy to see why. This is a very well constructed book, with a protagonist-narrator who is strong, resourceful, and unwilling to put up with any crap. Three more Hoffman novels are due to make their first English appearances soon, but anything less than immediately might not be soon enough for readers who crack open this cracking good thriller. — David Pitt

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