Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lumen | 1999 | Ben Pastor | Buy |
| 2 | Liar Moon | 2001 | Ben Pastor | Buy |
| 3 | A Dark Song of Blood | 2002 | Ben Pastor | Buy |
| 4 | Tin Sky | 2015 | Ben Pastor | Buy |
| 5 | La strada per Itaca | 2005 | Ben Pastor | N/A |
| 6 | The Road to Ithaca | 2017 | Ben Pastor | Buy |
| 7 | The Horseman’s Song | 2019 | Ben Pastor | Buy |
| 8 | La notte delle stelle cadenti | 2008 | Ben Pastor | N/A |
| 9 | The Night of Shooting Stars | 2020 | Ben Pastor | Buy |
| 10 | Il signore delle cento ossa | 2011 | Ben Pastor | N/A |
| 11 | The Venus of Salo | 2024 | Ben Pastor | Buy |
The Captain Martin Bora series by Ben Pastor is one of the most distinctive historical mystery series in contemporary fiction. Beginning with Lumen (1999), the 11-book series follows a German Wehrmacht officer — educated, cultured, and increasingly troubled by his country’s crimes — as he investigates murders across the theaters of World War II.
The series takes Bora from occupied Poland to Italy, North Africa, and eventually wartime Germany, with each novel combining a murder investigation with the larger moral and historical context of the war. Several books were originally published in Italian before appearing in English translation, including La strada per Itaca (2005) / The Road to Ithaca (2017) and Il signore delle cento ossa (2011). The most recent entry, The Venus of Salo (2024), continues the series after 25 years.