It's 1948, post-war Germany and a body has been found in a hotel room in the British Sector of Berlin. Investigating the case is a disarmingly witty captain with the Royal Military Police, Captain Beauchamp, assisted by the more intense Corporal White. The dead man is Professor Friedrich Kessler, an American-German atomic scientist whose presence in the British Sector (dead or alive) is perplexing.

Meanwhile, in New York, private detective John Docker is approached by a woman named Elsa Kessler to find her missing father, an atomic scientist whom she believes has gone to Berlin but can't locate him. Docker refuses to take the job having had to flee Berlin in the past and aware that, should he return, his life expectancy would be greatly reduced. He's next hired by a man who wants him to act as his agent in the purchase of a piece of the Cross of Christ. The information that the man has is that it was brought into the country by a dealer in antiquities and he wants Docker to track it down and make an offer to buy it on his behalf.

As it happens, back in Berlin, Captain Beauchamp is summoned to Spandau Prison by Albert Speer who also wants to locate the Cross of Christ which he claims was taken by an unnamed Russian. Speer believes that for Berlin to be returned to its former glory, the Cross must be returned to Berlin so that it might sit atop a building that he has designed.

Although Beauchamp's primary objective is to find out who murdered Professor Kessler, he still has time to send out the odd feeler for the Cross. Both investigations take him out of the British Sector and into the American Sector. His aim is to interview a Frenchman named Armistead, a well-known black marketeer who specialises in art and antiquities. He figures if anyone knows about the Cross of Christ it would be him.

What Beauchamp gets is apprehended by the US Military Police, interrogated and warned off, having made a serious breach of protocol by crossing the city boundaries. He arrives back in the British Sector to find that the body of Professor Kessler has been taken by the Americans and they also advise him that they would be taking over his investigation. In fact, they warn him to forget about Kessler altogether. In fictional thriller terms, this is the point where the protagonist redoubles his investigatory efforts because "something doesn't smell right". And bingo, that's exactly Beauchamp's reaction.

Refocusing on John Docker, he has been convinced that he should seek out the Cross of Christ, which has made its way back across the Atlantic to Berlin. Docker follows and it's at this point that the storylines of John Docker and Captain Beauchamp, as well as their paths, cross to provide a thrilling hunt in a city that is undergoing radical and historical changes.

Part murder investigation, part spy thriller, part private detective mystery, part global treasure hunt and set just as the Iron Curtain is about to go up, the story covers a lot of ground very quickly. The plotting is nice and tight and Flynn keeps a close rein on all of his characters drawing them together for a rousing and thrilling finale.

I just had one problem with the style and, I suppose, it's more a personal preference really. Flynn has chosen to slavishly devote alternating chapters to each of his main characters in an effort to develop their story-lines at the same time. One chapter would be devoted to Beauchamp in Berlin, the next would follow Docker in New York and so on. Often the chapters would end in mini cliff-hangers and we'd be left dangling for an entire chapter before discovering the outcome, given that we can still remember where things had been left. I've found this style annoying in the past and was no less irritated this time particularly because it gives the story a very choppy feeling.

The mood of post-war Berlin is captured in admirable clarity with the weariness of defeat depicted vividly in the people attempting to rebuild their city and in the descriptions of the destroyed buildings themselves. Also apparent is the very uneasy alliance that was maintained between the Allies. Relations weren't only strained between the Russians and the other 3 nations, everyone was very suspicious of each other and the tension of the situation underscores every scene.

Greg Flynn has put together an exciting thriller that combines the real-life drama of post-war Germany with a hunt for a relic that has taken on almost mythic proportions. The moments of sardonic humour contrasts nicely with the more intense showdowns that simply oozed with menace. The Berlin Cross is an exceptional debut novel from a talented Australian author.