The Devil's Breath

Auschwitz: 1944

A Jewish detective and his investigative reporter wife are forced by Kommandant Rudolf Höss to solve the murder of his accountant and recover millions in gold harvested from the victims of the gas chamber. Beset with betrayals and red herrings, the investigation takes the reader deep into Auschwitz and its workings, from the perils of daily life, to the Kanada warehouses, culminating in the gas chamber and an unforgettable finale.

Auschwitz prisoners Perla and Shimon Divko—she an investigative reporter, he a former lead detective in the Warsaw ghetto—are forced by Kommandant Rudolf Höss to solve the murder of his chief accountant and find millions in missing gold taken from the bodies of Jewish corpses. With Reichsführer Himmler due for his annual audit, they have a week to solve the crime or watch hundreds of their peers executed as the penalty for their failure. Overseen by Nazi Lieutenant Helmut Graf, the three investigators dive deep inside Auschwitz—the Kanada harvesting operation, the killing process and the perils of daily life. The investigation is plagued by multiple red herrings, the murder of prime suspects and witnesses, and the complicated relationship between Höss and his mistress, Gisela Brandt, an SS officer.