First published in 2005, it is the first in a series[1] of crime novels set in Hamburg, Germany, and featuring Kriminalhauptkommissar Jan Fabel.

But what begins as a hunt for an elusive serial-killer, turns darker and more twisted as Fabel and his team uncover the Blood Eagle ritual, political intrigue, murky Nazi connections, undercover cops and a Ukrainian crime lord who is about to violently take complete control of Hamburg.

Police officers often refer to him as "der englische Kommissar" (the English Detective) because part of his education took place in the UK and because he carries himself with what Germans perceive as a British elegance and restraint.

Blood Eagle [de][2] (aka Blutadler) has been produced for German television by Tivoli Film for public broadcaster ARD.

[3] For the creation of the best-selling Jan Fabel thrillers, Craig Russell became the only non-German to be awarded the highly prestigious Polizeistern by the Polizei Hamburg.