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This very gripping murder mystery set in Nazi Germany from the author, Simon Scarrow, is another daring project of his, and one I absolutely and fully approve.

At the beginning of the book you'll find two well-drawn maps, one of Central Berlin, and one of the Chain of Command of the Nazi Regime, and we need to take a particular interest in Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, Head of Abwehr (Military Intelligence), Reinhard Heydrich, Chief of the Reich Main Security Office, and the Head of Gestapo, Heinrich Müller, for each will play a very devious and sinister part in this murder mystery, while at the back of the book you'll notice a Note on Police and SS Ranks and an Author's Note, where the thoroughly researched historical details concerning this tale are superbly documented and explained.

Storytelling is of a top-notch quality, all characters come vividly to life within this mystery of corruption, intimidation and death, and its a story where the once beautiful surroundings and buildings of Berlin in these dark, bleak and deadly conditions at the end of 1939 are wonderfully pictured and described.

This tale is set in December 1939, in Berlin, and there we find our main protagonist, formerly from an aristocratic family but now financially ruined due to economics and Nazi Party politics, Kriminalinspektor Horst (von) Schenke, at the Head of Pankow Kripo Section.

What at first seems to be a routine investigation into forgeries of food coupons, becomes suddenly a nightmare from hell when Horst Schenke gets a phone call from SS Oberführer Müller, and a summons to show up asap at the office of Müller, where Schenke will be informed to lead an investigation into the death of former actress Gerda Korzeny (Schnee).

This investigation, which is undertaken with German efficiency and strict protocol, Horst Schenke, who's not a Nazi Party member, is from now on closely watched in his doings and dealings from all angles within the Nazi Regime, and in these suppressing circumstances Horst Schenke and his team, consisting of Sergeant Hauser, female officers, Frieda Echs and Rosa Mayer and the probationer, Brandt, will have to conduct their investigation to the best of their abilities.

When another murder has been committed, quickly followed by an attempted murder, Schenke and his team will enter into a maelstrom of occurrences in which several institutions within the Nazi Regime will do anything to influence the investigation in an attempt to put the blame towards another faction within this same Nazi Regime, but finally in an action-packed intriguing mystery which is set in chilling and deadly environments, Horst Schenke and his team are finally able to catch the culprit and bring him to justice.

Highly recommended, for this is a top-class murder case set in war-time Berlin, and one that shows us how the political and ruthless machinations of the Nazis work at its cruellest and deadliest, and that's why I want to call this great book: "A Very Captivating Blackout Murder Thriller"!