This is a new author to me and this is a great book. I enjoyed this book and I'm positive I will read a book written by them again. Thank you for writing such a great book!

A murder mystery set in Auschwitz? This could have been the worst idea ever, but Ashes in the Snow is excellent. Hugo Fischer is investigating the death of a high-ranking officer. From the beginning you know that he’s hiding a disease that would mark him for euthanasia if anyone found out. He is also very good at his job, so I was rooting for him from the start. Then, I realized how conflicted this made me… I was literally rooting for a Nazi. And that is why this book is great. These are not caricatures with evil Nazis versus their helpless victims. Even the worst officers have some redeeming qualities, even if it’s only in their minds, or because they’re being misled or scared. The victims are also far from weak. Even in the worst circumstances possible, they try to fight back, even in small ways. The story is heartbreaking and some parts made me tear up. This hardly ever happens in the mystery genre and yet the plot is also very well thought out and engrossing. Saul Reichlin’s performance adds to the story. He is not overly dramatic but matter-of-factly talks about unspeakable horrors in the disconnected way that Fischer would. The rest of his voices are distinctive enough to know who was saying what, and his “child” voice is organic, even if he obviously doesn’t sound like one. I hadn’t suspected the baddie or the motive but, once the culprit is revealed, it made perfect sense. The ending is just perfect.
I chose to listen to this audiobook and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#HarperAudio!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced audiobook, Ashes in the Snow. I thought this book was just ok.. The first half of the book really irritated me because the story is about solving the murder of an SS officer in Birkenau; the concentration camp where millions of jews are being murdered. How ironic, that they are trying so desperately to figure out if an SS officer's cause of death was from choking or murder when they are literally murdering millions in the buildings next door. They ended up solving the mystery and all was as well as could be during the times of WWII, but the whole story just felt wrong.