A Death In Berlin (The CI Schenke Thrillers Book Three) by Simon Scarrow

 

A Death In Berlin (The CI Schenke Thrillers Book Three) by Simon Scarrow.

Published 13th March 2025 by Headline.

From the cover of the book:

CI Horst Schenke is an investigator with the Kripo unit. Powerless against the consequences of the war, he fights to keep criminals off his patch. But with doubts growing about his loyalty to the Nazi regime, he is walking a tightrope. If his relationship with a Jewish woman is exposed, a dreadful fate awaits.

Berlin's gangsters run their crime rings with impunity. Decadent senior Nazis protect them. Schenke is different. He won't turn a blind eye when innocents 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, as the distant war spirals ever closer, A Death in Berlin conveys the horror and banality of evil - and the terrible danger for those who dare stand against it.

The stunning new Berlin wartime thriller from the author of Blackout and Dead of Night.

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Berlin, May 1940. CI Horst Schenke and his Kripo team have been tasked with bringing down a gang of forgers flooding the market with fake ration coupons. It is an investigation that has brought Schenke uncomfortable attention from the upper echelons of the Nazi Party, something he has been assiduously trying to avoid given his 'un-German' beliefs, and the fact that he is in love with a Jewish woman.

When, Remer, the head of one of Berlin's infamous criminal gangs is found murdered, evidence points to his involvement in the forgery racket, but whether his death is the result of fierce rivalry between the criminal organisations acting with increasing impunity in the city, or something else, is not easy to determine. Against a backdrop of fear, as Hitler's ambition is taking Germany towards all out European war, Schenke and his colleagues walk a perilous line to bring the guilty to justice while trying not to upset those who who turn a blind eye to their activities. Nazi Germany is a difficult place to be a good man, when hatred and evil are the central tenets of those who hold power.

This third book in the gripping CI Schenke series takes you into the heart of the criminal gangs of Berlin, as they adapt from the decadence of the Weimar years to cement their position hand-in-glove with the corrupt players at the top of the Nazi Party. Once again, Simon Scarrow does an incredible job of delving into all the complicated factors at play in Germany of this era, particularly when to comes to those caught between their firmly held beliefs of right and wrong and the monstrous turn of events in the country they love, while crafting a gripping crime story that thrums with noir gorgeousness. 

Our hero, Schenke is stuck between a rock and a hard place (something becoming ever more common in this political climate) as he, his faithful side-kick Sergeant Hauser, and odd-ball ex-Gestapo officer Liebwitz are under pressure to get to the bottom of a forgery racket that is upsetting the powers that be. The threads of this inquiry become steadily more confused as a gang war takes hold in the wake of the vacuum caused by Remer's death. No one of the criminal fraternity wants to share what they know with the police, and the investigation keeps hitting brick walls when witnesses come to sticky ends. But Schenke is not easily dissauded from getting to the truth, even when he is being reluctantly groomed for greatness from above, and threatened with ruin by having his secrets exposed. Fortunately he is not averse to leaping over the line here and there in the process.

This is my absolute favourite of the series so far, with a page-turning story full of gritty gangster shenanigans, that stand up well against anything a top-notch mafia thriller can throw at you; solid policework in the most difficult of circumstances that showcase the developing relationships between Schenke, Hauser and Liebwitz; luscious scenes that immerse you in the uber-levels of sycophancy of the Nazi elite to their horribly fervent masters (and the criminals who aid and abet them); and sharp insight from Scarrow in terms of time and place. The tension ratchets up notch by notch, building to a glorious climax, and there is lovely emotional content from Schenke's personal struggles as he attempts to do the right thing by his conscience, and heart, while avoiding detection. 

Exciting, atmospheric, thought-provoking, and utterly brilliant from the first page to the last. I cannot wait for the next one!

A Death in Berlin is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats. 

Thank you to Headline for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review, and to Ransom PR for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Simon Scarrow is the acclaimed author of multiple Sunday Times bestsellers, including Revenge of Rome, The Honour of Rome and The Gladiator.

He is also the author of many other acclaimed novels including Blackout and Dead of Night in the CI Schenke thriller series set in World War II Berlin, and a quartet of bestselling novels about Wellington and Napoleon. 

With T. J. Andrews he has co-written further novels set in the Roman Empire, including Warrior, focusing on the rebel chief Caratacus, and Arena, following the career of a gladiator hero.

Simon lives with his wife in Norfolk.