Joseph Kanon: Shanghai, 9781398519787, Simon & Schuster UK, large paperback 

I seem to be reading quite a number of books about Nazi Germany lately. 

Joseph Kanon's excellent, atmospheric spy thriller featuring Daniel Lohr, starts in 1939 Berlin, who with great luck,  manages to escape by securing a passage on a ship heading for Shanghai thanks to his uncle Nathan's connections. He is a big player in pre war Shanghai's night life owning several clubs and pulling many business strings in this multi facetted, complex city. Several of the people Daniel meets on board  remain fatefully connected to him in Shanghai when he starts working for his uncle, particularly Leah with whom he begins an affair.  

The Chinese, Japanese, British,  Russian and German business connections are cleverly constructed  in this fab thriller.   I was intrigued by the web of plots Kanon spins, learning some history at the same time. Really loved Kanon's short, carefully crafted dialogues, his clipped sentences, the very colorful characters, a great literary spy novel.