Tag: historical crime

Book Review – A Death in Berlin by Simon Scarrow #ADeathInBerlin @headlinepg

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Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for A Death in Berlin by Simon Scarrow, the third book in the author’s crime thriller series set in WW2 Berlin. My thanks to Sophie at Ransom PR for inviting me to take part in the tour and to Headline for my digital review copy via NetGalley. Do check out the review by my tour buddy for today, Sue at Brown Flopsy’s Book Burrow.

About the Book

Berlin. May 1940. As Hitler prepares to invade Western Europe, there is bloodshed closer to home.

CI Horst Schenke is an exceptional investigator with the Kripo unit. Powerless against the consequences of the wider war, he fights to keep criminals off his patch of Berlin. But with influential men questioning his loyalty to the Nazi regime, he is walking a tightrope. If his secret relationship with a Jewish woman is exposed, that would spell the end.

Berlin’s gangsters run their crime rings with impunity. Decadent senior Nazis are happy to protect them. Schenke is different. He refuses to turn a blind eye when innocent victims are caught in the crossfire between warring gangs. But dangerous enemies know everything about him. They will do whatever it takes to bend him to their will . . .

From the seedy wartime nightlife scene to aristocratic homes frequented by the Führer himself, against a backdrop of a war spiralling into a greater, and closer conflagration, A Death in Berlin conveys the horror and banality of evil. And the terrible danger for those who dare stand against it.

Format: Hardcover (400 pages) Publisher: Headline
Publication date: 13th March 2025 Genre: Historical Fiction, Crime, Thriller

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My Review

A Death in Berlin is the third book featuring Criminal Inspector Horst Schenke, the follow-up to Blackout and Dead of Night.

Horst Schenke is a brilliant character. He has a strong sense of justice and bringing criminals to book is what drives him. It enables him to temporarily put to one side his growing alarm at and distaste for what is happening to Germany under the Nazis. But that’s becoming increasingly difficult. The fact he has not yet joined the Nazi party or applied for membership of the SS and turned down a role working for Heydrich marks him out in the eyes of his new boss Oberfuhrer Radinsky as a maverick. Nazi Germany does not care for mavericks. It’s only Schenke’s excellent results that protect him. Oh, and his previous career as a famous racing driver. It turns out he has an unexpected fan too.

Schenke has an additional weak spot in the form of his relationship with Ruth, a Jewish woman. Their relationship must remain clandestine for both their sakes: snatched meetings in out of the way places organised by coded messages and constant vigilence. For Schenke, discovery would mean the end of his career, and possibly worse. For Ruth it would mean certain death. ‘Caution was not just a watchword but the essence of their survival.’

But a secret makes you vulnerable and open to manipulation, as Schenke discovers. It results in the most difficult moral dilemma he has faced in his career.

Schenke’s team return: the trusty Sergeant Hauser, handy in a brawl; and Scharfuhrer Liebwitz, seconded from the Gestapo and possessed of a remarkable memory and eye for detail. (I did love learning a little more about their personal lives.) Their investigation into forged ration coupons, a valuable commodity in a time of increasing deprivation for ordinary Germans (but not for high-ranking Nazis), takes them into the murky, dog-eat-dog, world of criminal gangs.

For Schenke, increasingly there’s little difference between the immorality of the criminal underworld and that of the Nazi regime. And sometimes – just sometimes – your enemy’s enemy is your friend and the end does justify the means. It’s the cue for some terrific action scenes, including one fuelled by revenge and a desperate attempt to save a life.

As Hitler unleashes the full might of the German army on Western Europe, Schenke can only despair at what his country has become. I’m sure we can all think of contemporary parallels.

If you’re looking for a brilliant historical thriller set against the backdrop of real events with a leading character you can’t help but root for, A Death in Berlin will not disappoint.

In three words: Dramatic, atmospheric, suspenseful
Try something similar: The Ashes of Berlin by Luke McCallin

About the Author

Author Simon Scarrow

Simon Scarrow is a Sunday Times No. 1 bestselling author. His books – which have sold over 6 million copies – include two earlier Criminal Inspector Schenke thrillers, Blackout and Dead of Night, and his Eagles of the Empire novels featuring Roman soldiers Macro and Cato, most recently Revenge of Rome, Rebellion and Death to the Emperor.

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Book Review – The War Widow by Tara Moss @VERVE_Books

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About the Book

Book cover of The War Widow by Tara Moss

It’s 1946, and though war correspondent Billie Walker is happy to finally be back home in glamorous Sydney, for her the heady post-war days are tarnished by the loss of her father and the disappearance of her husband, Jack. To make matters worse, newspapers are now sidelining her reporting talents to prioritise jobs for returning soldiers.

Determined to take control of her future, she reopens her late father’s private investigation agency, and, slowly, the women of Sydney come knocking.

At first, Billie’s work consists of tailing cheating husbands. But when a young man goes missing, Billie finds herself on a dangerous new trail that will lead her to the highest levels of Sydney society, and down into its underworld.

As the risk mounts, Billie realises that there is much more than one man’s life at stake. Though the war was won, it is far from over.

Format: Paperback (320 pages) Publisher: Verve Books
Publication date: 7th March 2024 Genre: Historical Fiction, Crime

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My Review

I’ve read a lot of books set in WW2 but I’m beginning to find books set shortly after the war just as interesting. That’s the case here because the story is shot through with reminders of the legacy of war, including the continuing mystery of just what happened to Billie’s husband, Jack. The terrible atrocities committed during the war, some of which Billie herself witnessed during her time as a war correspondent, also loom large.

A historical crime mystery set in Sydney is not something I’ve come across before. As well as being a reminder of the contribution – and sacrifices – made by soldiers from Australia to the Allied war effort, I liked how the author also incorporated into the story the issue of the treatment of indigenous people.

Billie Walker makes a sassy, feisty heroine not afraid to jump right in when needed armed with her trusty pearl-handled Colt revolver tucked in her garter and a generous helping of chutzpah. Thanks to an astute appointment, she now has a loyal assistant in the shape of Sam Blake, himself bearing the physical scars of war. Other characters include Billie’s aristocratic mother, Ella, vainly attempting to hide the evidence of her financially straitened circumstances whilst quaffing Martinis and the dashing Detective Inspector Hank Cooper with whom Billie has struck up quite a rapport.

I worked out where the plot was going pretty early on and there were a few ‘information dumps’, such as the derivation of the word nostalgia, that I felt were superfluous. However, the twists and turns of the story, some dramatic scenes such as a perilous car chase, and Billie’s tenacious pursuit of the truth were enough to keep me absorbed. I’m looking forward to reading the next in the series, The Ghosts of Paris.

I received a proof copy courtesy of Verve Books.

In three words: Intriguing, spirited, dramatic
Try something similar: The Comfort of Ghosts by Jacqueline Winspear

About the Author

Author Tara Moss

Tara Moss is an internationally bestselling author, passionate and inspiring chronic pain and disability advocate, human rights activist, documentary and podcast host, and model. Her crime novels have been published in nineteen countries and thirteen languages, and her memoir, The Fictional Woman, was a #1 bestseller.

Moss is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and has received the Edna Ryan Award for significant contribution to feminist debate and for speaking out on behalf of women and children. In 2017, she was recognised as one of the Global Top 50 Diversity Figures in Public Life. (Photo: Goodreads)

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