Peter Brandt is Chief Inspector in the Offenbach Homicide Division and has worked as a policeman for 25 years. He is 45 years old, about 1.70 meters tall and has a slightly stocky but muscular figure and a prominent chin. His humour is described as macabre. Brandt is a fan of the Offenbach Kickers.

Peter Brandt lives with his two daughters, Sarah (12 years) and Michelle (14 years) in Offenbach. He is divorced (his ex-wife is living abroad with her ??new partner) and has a very close relationship with his parents Emilia and Erwin Brandt, who live close by. Emilia Brandt is a native Italian, Erwin Brandt's father is a retired Chief Inspector and a skilled listener for his son in tricky cases. Emilia and Erwin also take care of Sarah and Michelle when Peter Brandt is working evenings or on weekends.

Brandt is a tenacious investigator who, although needing verifiable facts to accomplish results, also sometimes relies on his gut feeling. His investigative methods are so successful that the detection rate of the department is over 90%. Like Julia Durant from K11 in Frankfurt, Brandt also investigates murder cases with a background in corruption and abuse.

The person Peter Brandt is depicted quite credibly as a single father. His daily routine includes not only his investigative activities, but the series also briefly reports on some of his household happenings. Like any other human being, he must move the laundry from the washing machine into the dryer, or he spends an evening with his daughters, who are very important to him.

In the first book about Peter Brandt, Death of a Teacher, he begins a relationship with the divorced Andrea Sievers. However, they break it off in The Death Cross. Peter is a very quiet family man who leads a relatively reclusive life. This is not enough for Andrea, so they end things on friendly terms. Peter has been feeling for some time that their relationship was facing disaster because Andrea sometimes went for days without contacting him, although she used to call him several times a day. A relationship with the prosecutor Elvira Small starts to form during this phase of separation.

Overall, the protagonists of this series are credibly presented as they evolve both in the books and in the course of the series.

Other Characters

Bernard Spitzer, Head of the Homicide Division

Spitzer is Brandt's boss and has been married for 20 years. Brandt and Spitzer attended the police academy together and have been friends ever since. Spitzer feels most at home in the office, while Brandt enters it reluctantly. Bernard is described as a person who avoids confrontations. He mostly gives Brandt free hand in his investigations, but would like to be kept informed.

Nicole Eberl

Colleague of Peter Brandt, who often questions witnesses and / or suspects together with him. She is 38 years old and married. Her character is described as being very slim and amiable by nature. Furthermore, she should be very orderly. Her husband is an architect and works from home. They have adopted an Indian girl. Nicole writes short stories and children's books that have been published, of which three have already been published. Because of her amiable and balancing nature, Nicole is often the one calming down the department.

Dr. Andrea Sievers, Pathologist

Dr. Sievers is a pathologist at the Forensic Medicine Institute in Frankfurt. She is 32 years old, slim, has light brown shoulder-length hair, which she wears in a ponytail during the work and is known for her macabre humor. Andrea Sievers is friends with prosecutor Elvira Small.

Elvira Klein, Attorney

Klein works as an attorney in Offenbach. She is very slim, has a good figure, an expressive face and chin-length blond hair. She is described as intelligent and uncompromising. Peter Brandt always ends up quarrelling with her, because she often pressures him unnecessarily. Elvira Klein is the daughter of a respected lawyer. She grew up in Langen, where she attended the Georg Buchner Gymnasium. She now lives in Frankfurt in a luxurious apartment and driving her Mercedes coupe to her office in Offenbach.

"The Merciless" appear every now and then after a murder. These are the employees of the funeral institute meant to transport the bodies to Forensic Medicine.

Editor's note: The age of the characters and many other details that refer to time intervals as well as personal environment of said characters are based on the first book, Death of a Teacher (2004), which introduces investigator Peter Brandt. Although prosecutor Elvira Klein is still driving a Mercedes Coupe in this book, it is exchanged for a BMW in The Death Cross (2007)

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Peter Brandt Series

Death of a Teacher (Paperback 2004), also published as The Devil's Pact (Paperback 2004)

Murder Game (2005)

Cry of the Nightingale (2006)

The Death Cross (Peter Brandt investigates for the first time with Julia Durant) (2007)

Apart from the series about Peter Brandt, Andreas Franz has also written two other series. One of them plays in Frankfurt. The main character is Inspector Julia Durant from Homicide Frankfurt. In the book The Death Cross Peter Brandt investigates a murder for the first time with Julia Durant.

The other series is set in the area of ??Kiel. Protagonists of the series are policeman Soren Henning and his colleague, Lisa Santos.

Many books by Andreas Franz are also available as audiobooks. The first three books about Peter Brandt were read by Tommi Piper. The Death Cross was read by John Steck. The books about Julia Durant were read by Julia Fischer and Uta Kromer, and Stephan Benson read the books centred on Soren Hennig and Lisa Santos.