Book Review: Dead of Night by Simon Scarrow

It's 1940. The Nazis have already held Germany in their iron grip and are ready to unleash an ideology of brutality on the unsuspecting public. The mysterious death of an SS doctor is attributed to suicide by the authorities, but Inspector Horst Schenke has reasons to believe that it is a cold-blooded murder. His attempts to pursue the case are prevented by forces far beyond his power. But when another case of suspected killings of kids in a facility seems to intertwine with the death of the doctor, Schenke is forced to make a choice—either to serve justice or cater to the orders of a bloodthirsty regime.

Dead of Night is the upcoming historical mystery novel by Simon Scarrow, which is set in Germany during Nazi rule. It is the second installment of his Wartime Berlin novels, featuring Inspector Schenke. The novel, along with narrating a nail-biting mystery, explores the nature of justice, how effective a sense of justice is, and the pursuit of truth in a world where the regime itself is corrupt and the rules are meant to subvert natural ethics. I received an advance copy of the novel from its publisher, Kensington Books, through Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion of it.

The book is an interesting concoction of generic crime mystery laced with a strong dash of ethical dilemma. Its protagonist, Schenke, is a no-nonsense cop who believes that his job is to nab criminals, and his sense of duty to his fellow citizens ends there. But on the course of his investigation, he succumbs to pressures from different quarters and has to pursue deep-down secrets that are way above his league. People nearer to him believe him to be a deliverer of social justice, but he knows that the authority above him is more powerful and can cripple him if he goes too far for their comfort. So he behaves as a practical person and tries to balance it out, even against his own conviction.

In the dark and depressing world that Scarrow narrates in this novel, the reader feels that more questions are left behind than resolutions. None of its characters accept being slotted as plainly black or white. For each one of them, their life, career, and the safety of their family are important. Most of them choose to be on the safe side of the rules and regulations that are landed down from the higher realms of an ideologically controlled, ruthless regime and totally close their eyes to the impact on the entire society. The book illustrates how seemingly conscientious people choose to close their eyes to gross injustice when they realise that it is not in their interest to fight a battle that has more chances to fail.

While reading the novel, even when engrossed in the suspense and thrills it portrayed, I couldn't help but reflect on the history of violence that unfolded under the Nazis. The novel depicts the beginning of the 'Aktion T4' programme, which is the mass murder of 'degenerates', in the language of Hitler, that includes other races like Jews and Gipsies and even physically or mentally deformed German kids. There is a blood-curdling situation in the plot where a German SS man loses his kid and rages that his son is a true German and not someone like a Jew who deserves to die.

Dead of Night, even though it is a murder mystery that follows a formulaic format, ends up probing its reader's mind with pertinent questions. We are compelled to compare the situations in which the characters find themselves with our present social and political situations and try to identify the signs of intrusion by a powerful regime into the way we desire to lead our lives.