Dead of Night

 Dead of Night is the second novel reviewed in this blog by the prolific writer, Simon Scarrow. I read the first one nearly two years ago entitled Blackout which took place in Berlin in December 1939. In this series, the protagonist is once again Criminal Inspector Horst Schenke, and the setting is again in Berlin, just a few months later in early 1940. It’s such an interesting idea for Scarrow to put his honest investigator in the midst of the holocaust where human tragedies abound, not only the slaughter of the Jewish population, but also the murder of thousands of others for not fitting into Hitler’s master Aryan ideal. Also at risk of the loss of their lives were any people who defied that Aryan ideal.

In this case, Schenke was made aware of the murder of a doctor, who like so many other physicians, joined the SS, created by Himmler. Himmler's chief deputy was SS-Gruppenfuhrer Richard Heydrich. The doctor, Manfred Schmesler, was thought to have joined the SS in order to protect his license to practice medicine, just as so many other physicians had done. But then, this seemingly good man was murdered. It was the same woman, Ruth Frankl, who helped Schenke solve the mysterious murders in Blackout that brought the murder of Schmesler to Schenke’s attention. It was the practice of eugenics that became the essence of this novel. Although eugenics was known to be a principle of the Nazi regime, due to objections of the general citizenry, the movement was initially pushed underground. Schenke, a skilled investigator, found his detective efforts to learn more about Schmesler’s death were blocked in every way possible by the police hierarchy. He was specifically warned off the case by Heydrich, the most frightening of characters.

 

Next, Schenke began to investigate the multiple deaths of children at a specific hospital in Germany, children who were somehow handicapped. The Nazi regime was uninterested in pursuing this investigation, but then Schenke found a link between the deaths of the children and the work that Schmesler had been assigned by the Nazis. He pursued that information at the very real risk of his own life.

 

Mixed in with the murders of the children, and the brutal beatings to which Schneke was treated due to his stubborn persistence, Schneke found a surprising link to Schmesler. He found himself in a fascinating double bind which I will let the author explain. Meanwhile, in part because of his dedication to the job and his need to be away from home, Schneke’s relationship with his live-in girlfriend Karin became quite strained. At the same time, Ruth Frankl became an ally and love interest to Schenke. Since she was a Jew, the two of them were playing out a very risky romance.

 

I liked this book a lot. The dilemma of an honest man who was in an impossible situation, and the risk of his death and those around him as a result of pursuing his necessary detective work. The book gets my very strong recommendation.