After thoroughly enjoying Blackout, the first in the new Horst Schenke series, it’s now onto the next in the series, Dead Of Night…and if possible, it’s even better!
As I doubtless mentioned in my review of Blackout, the enthralling beginning to a new historical crime series set in Nazi Germany, I’m missing a dose of crime solving in Nazi Germany in my reading diet. Since the premature death of Philip Kerr, who wrote the fantastic long-running Bernie Gunther series, there’s been a gap in my reading diet – and doubtless many others’ – for a policeman who has a conscience about what’s happening in his country, but is pragmatic enough to realise he has to put up and shut up, and, in this case, do his job at Kripo, which investigates serious crime.
Scarrow has assembled a great cast for his series…
Horst Schenke is an ex-racing driver who had to retire after a serious leg injury. His main sidekick is his sergeant, Hauser, and there’s also the quirky Liebwitz on secondment from the Gestapo. We recognise he’s probably on the spectrum but they merely regard him as something of an “odd fellow,” but affection is starting to build for him among the team.
In Schenke’s life outside Kripo there’s Karin Canaris, his other half, who adds glamour, with her Louise Brooks-style bob, and who has an uncle high-up in the Admiralty. Personally, though, she resents Hitler and his henchmen, and her loudmothed criticism of their politics in public sometimes worries Schenke. Far more interesting and intelligent, though, is Ruth, a young Jewish woman hiding out in Berlin with the help of a sympathetic network. She helped Schenke solve the crime in Blackout, and asks him for help investigating the death of a doctor who was kind to her family, and whose suicide she regards as suspicious. Schenke is attracted to Ruth, but realises he cannot seen to helping her, or even with her.
So there’s this death which doesn’t really make sense…what other crimes are Schenke and the team investigating?
His boss is getting irate about a gang of ration coupon solvers who are costing the government dear, but Schenke (rightly, in my opinion!) clearly finds this investigation somewhat dull, and much prefers to get involved in investigations which do nothing to endear him to Heydrich and other powerful men in the Reich.
Firstly, there’s the suicide of Schmesler, Ruth’s doctor friend. His wife is also adamant he wouldn’t have killed himself, and the shooting certainly appears staged. However, Schenke is soon roughed up by a violent gang, and a phone call from Heydrich himself advises him to drop things. Ruth, however, has nothing to lose and is adamant she’s continuing her investigation.
And there’s the deaths of children in the Schiller clinic…
Disabled children are being sent to a clinic at the recommendation of their doctors. This is a crime that history allows us to look back on and instantly see as the work of enthusiasts of eugenics, and the beginning of the Reich getting rid of those it regards as inferior.
The clinic is in Potsdam – a place students of the Nazi regime will know is to be feared – and Schenke is approached by the family of a little girl called Greta, who despite being born with problems, was physically healthy. What initially appeared to be a good option for her – fresh air, good food, other children, the possibility of training for work in the future at this clinic – soon took on a more sinister tone, with stories of children disappearing, never to be seen again, and brutal treatment. Then within a few months Greta is dead, from pneumonia. Soon her mother has compiled a list of parents with tales that are almost identical. And, as no-one else is interested, Karin, and an American journalist friend who’d been researching the story, persuade Horst to look into it. Yet again, he’s burrowing into things the Nazi party would prefer kept hidden…
Sounds like a dangerous path to take.
It is, and so it leads to plenty of drama, and of course violence, as the regime attempt to keep a lid on it’s most hideous crimes. Plus it’s soon established there’s a link between the doctor’s “suicide” and the goings-on at Potsdam.
It’s high drama throughout – the absolute epitome of a pageturner. I’m even thinking of investigating some of Simon Scarrow’s Roman Empire-set books, as he is the most wonderful plotter, and creates memorable characters. As for Horst Schenke et al, well, I cannot wait to see what he has planned next for them, as we get deeper into the war years. It’s thrilling stuff; one of those books where you really begin to care about the characters and which is sure to leave you yawning the next day!
An absolute must-read for fans of historical crime fiction!
With thanks to Jess at Midas PR for inviting me to participate in the blog tour, and Headline Books for the ARC. This has not influenced my opinion, and this is a fair review.
Author Simon Scarrow (top); the other wonderful bloggers who are participating in this blog tour (below)
BLURB: After Germany’s invasion of Poland, the world is holding its breath and hoping for peace. At home, the Nazi Party’s hold on power is absolute.
One freezing night, an SS doctor and his wife return from an evening mingling with their fellow Nazis at the concert hall. By the time the sun rises, the doctor will be lying lifeless in a pool of blood.
Was it murder or suicide? Criminal Inspector Horst Schenke is told that under no circumstances should he investigate. The doctor’s widow, however, is convinced her husband was the target of a hit. But why would anyone murder an apparently obscure doctor? Compelled to dig deeper, Schenke learns of the mysterious death of a child. The cases seem unconnected, but soon chilling links begin to emerge that point to a terrifying secret.
Even in times of war, under a ruthless regime, there are places in hell no man should ever enter. And Schenke fears he may not return alive . . .