WRITER

Philip Kerr

1956 - 2018

Photo of Philip Kerr

Icon of person Philip Kerr

Philip Ballantyne Kerr (22 February 1956 – 23 March 2018) was a British author, best known for his Bernie Gunther series of historical detective thrillers. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Philip Kerr has received more than 883,542 page views. His biography is available in 26 different languages on Wikipedia. Philip Kerr is the 2,054th most popular writer (up from 2,469th in 2019), the 1,558th most popular biography from United Kingdom (up from 1,891st in 2019) and the 165th most popular British Writer.

Memorability Metrics

  • 880k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 56.01

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 26

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 5.68

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 2.35

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

Inside Out
Esau
Fiction, Missing link, Evolution
The accidental discovery of a mysterious fossil skull unleashes a political and scientific struggle as a paleoanthropologist tries to confirm that the skull represents proof of a missing link, while in the Punjab, two nuclear powers draw ever closer to war.
Dark Matter
Mystery, Great Britain. Royal Mint, Fiction
I swore not to tell this story while Newton was still alive.1696, young Christopher Ellis is sent to the Tower of London, but not as a prisoner. Though Ellis is notoriously hotheaded and was caught fighting an illegal duel, he arrives at the Tower as assistant to the renowned scientist Sir Isaac Newton. Newton is Warden of the Royal Mint, which resides within the Tower walls, and he has accepted an appointment from the King of England and Parliament to investigate and prosecute counterfeiters whose false coins threaten to bring down the shaky, war-weakened economy. Ellis may lack Newton's scholarly mind, but he is quick with a pistol and proves himself to be an invaluable sidekick and devoted apprentice to Newton as they zealously pursue these criminals.While Newton and Ellis investigate a counterfeiting ring, they come upon a mysterious coded message on the body of a man killed in the Lion Tower, as well as alchemical symbols that indicate this was more than just a random murder. Despite Newton's formidable intellect, he is unable to decipher the cryptic message or any of the others he and Ellis find as the body count increases within the Tower complex. As they are drawn into a wild pursuit of the counterfeiters that takes them from the madhouse of Bedlam to the squalid confines of Newgate prison and back to the Tower itself, Newton and Ellis discover that the counterfeiting is only a small part of a larger, more dangerous plot, one that reaches to the highest echelons of power and nobility and threatens much more than the collapse of the economy. Dark Matter is the lastest masterwork of suspense from Philip Kerr, the internationally bestselling and brilliantly innovative thriller writer who has dazzled readers with his imaginative, fast-paced novels. Like An Instance of the Fingerpost, The Name of the Rose, and Kerr's own Berlin Noir trilogy, Dark Matter is historical mystery at its finest, an extraordinary, suspense-filled journey through the shadowy streets and back alleys of London with the brilliant Newton and his faithful protege. The haunted Tower with its bloody history is the perfect backdrop for this richly satisfying tale, one that introduces an engrossing mystery into the volatile mix of politics, science, and religion that characterized life in seventeenth-century London.From the Hardcover edition.
Gridiron
German fiction
A philosophical investigation
Fiction, Police, Policewomen
If the dead rise not
Organized Crime, Private investigators, Private investigators in fiction
An instant classic in the Bernie Gunther series, with storytelling that is fresher and more vivid than ever. Berlin, 1934: The Nazis have secured the 1936 Olympiad for the city but are facing foreign resistance. Hitler and Avery Brundage, the head of the U.S. Olympic Committee, have connived to soft-pedal Nazi anti- Semitism and convince America to participate. Bernie Gunther, now the house detective at an upscale Berlin hotel, is swept into this world of international corruption and dangerous double-dealing, caught between the warring factions of the Nazi apparatus. Havana, 1954: Batista, aided by the CIA, has just seized power; Castro is in prison; and the American Mafia is quickly gaining a stranglehold on the city's exploding gaming and prostitution industries. Bernie, who has been unceremoniously kicked out of Buenos Aires, has resurfaced in Cuba with a new life, seemingly one of routine and relative peace. But Bernie discovers that he truly cannot outrun the burden of his past: He soon collides with a vicious killer from his Berlin days, who is mysteriously murdered not long afterward-and an old lover, who may be the murderer. If the Dead Rise Not is everything fans have come to expect from Philip Kerr: twisted intrigue, tight plotting, quick-witted one-liners, a hang-by-your- thumbs ending, and, most significant, a richer, wiser Bernie Gunther.

Among WRITERS

Among writers, Philip Kerr ranks 2,054 out of 7,302Before him are Camilo Castelo Branco, François Hotman, Nigidius Figulus, Jacopone da Todi, Erle Stanley Gardner, and Lucilius Junior. After him are Clive Barker, Vassilis Vassilikos, Mago, Catherine Breillat, Sergio Badilla Castillo, and Marcellinus Comes.

Most Popular Writers in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1956, Philip Kerr ranks 95Before him are Sela Ward, Fernando Gomes, Mikuláš Dzurinda, Bruce Greenwood, Rita Wilson, and Henri Toivonen. After him are Elie Hobeika, Gianni De Biasi, Hans van Breukelen, King Diamond, Luis Guzmán, and Yegor Gaidar. Among people deceased in 2018, Philip Kerr ranks 113Before him are Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza, Raymond Chow, Josep Lluís Núñez, Irena Szewińska, Choi Eun-hee, and Tom Wolfe. After him are Lill-Babs, Luis García Meza, Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Đỗ Mười, Sridevi, and Dan Gurney.

Others Born in 1956

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Others Deceased in 2018

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In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, Philip Kerr ranks 1,558 out of 8,785Before him are Dick Taylor (1943), Willehad (735), Eglantyne Jebb (1876), David Purley (1945), N. R. Pogson (1829), and Simon Rattle (1955). After him are Clive Barker (1952), Lord William Bentinck (1774), Edward L. G. Bowell (1943), Bear Grylls (1974), George Bentham (1800), and John Guillermin (1925).

Among WRITERS In United Kingdom

Among writers born in United Kingdom, Philip Kerr ranks 165Before him are Thomas Wyatt (1503), Edward Young (1683), Anthony Trollope (1815), Robert Southey (1774), Christopher Isherwood (1904), and Karen Armstrong (1944). After him are Clive Barker (1952), George MacDonald (1824), James Hilton (1900), Patrick O'Brian (1914), James Herbert Brennan (1940), and Orderic Vitalis (1075).