Psychological thriller set around BATON ROUGE, Louisiana
A crime thriller set in WW2 BERLIN
10th November 2025
A Death in Berlin by Simon Scarrow, a crime thriller set in WW2 Berlin.
A Death in Berlin is the third book in Simon Scarrow’s DI Horst Schenke crime thriller series. It is a great series.
Horst is an Inspector who works solving crime in the Pankow district of Berlin. Despite the War that is underway, ‘ordinary’ crime still very much exists. The crime gangs that rose to prominence under the Weimar Republic still flourish under their new Nazi masters. Indeed the two – the crime gangs and the senior members of the Nazi party – coexist quite happily. You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours… Luxuries that are hard to find in wartime are readily available (at a price) for those that can afford them. In return the gangs are left largely to their own devices, unless their crimes are just too big or too sensitive to ignore. Petty crime flourishes.
A nightclub owner (suspected to be one of the gangland bosses) is murdered and then, a short while after, his club is pretty much destroyed in an arson attack. A rival gang is suspected. In the ruins of the fire, charred remains of hundreds of freshly printed ration coupons are discovered. Horst and his team have been working for months on the case of the ‘forged ration coupons’. Is this the clue they have been waiting for?
The plot proceeds apace to a complex, violent and dramatic conclusion.
A Death in Berlin is an extremely well worked crime thriller. The plot will keep you gripped. But what I found equally compelling is the background setting of wartime Berlin in which the book is placed. The trials, tribulations, and fears of ordinary Berliners come through loud and clear. Everyone has to be extremely cautious and secretive about what they say to who. A careless word can cost a person their freedom. In a parallel and more human plot Horst is having an illicit affair with a Jewess. Every time they meet they are in grave danger. You can sense how scared they are.
A Death in Berlin is a recommended read for those who like historic fiction set in wartime.
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