Ashes in the Snow
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- 6,99 €
Beschreibung des Verlags
A beautiful, moving detective story set in Auschwitz in the Christmas of 1943.
A young Jewish prisoner…
Auschwitz, 1943. It’s snowing outside and Block 10 looks even bleaker than usual. Gioele Errera, a young Jewish boy imprisoned in the camp, finds the body of an SS officer.
A detective with everything to prove…
Hugo Fischer is sent to investigate the unexplained death of the renowned Nazi. But Hugo is hiding a secret – he is suffering from a degenerative disease. The only way for him to survive is to give his support to the Reich and hide his condition.
A confrontation with pure evil…
In Auschwitz, Hugo comes face to face not only with a complex murder, but with a truth – that of the Final Solution. And he is forced to decide what is most important to him – and who, if anyone, he should try to save…
What readers are saying about Ashes in the Snow
‘A haunting, emotionally dynamic and poignant mystery’
‘I cannot recommend this book too highly, it is well-written and interesting, horrifying details are interwoven with the story keeping me on the edge of my seat’
‘This book is powerful, interesting and horrifying’
‘This is an excellent book,.a complex case, interesting and often unpredictable characters and an ending that I certainly didn't see coming’
‘An incredible book, reminiscent of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas but with a detective story twist’
‘Well written, beautifully paced and unputdownable – brilliant!’
‘A moving, human account of life in the most inexplicably evil place ever’
‘ A book I shan’t forget in a hurry’
‘A chilling but compelling read which leaves the reader with much to think about’
‘All I ask is that you read it – please’
Reviews
“A novel that moves … beyond the crime genre to which it appears initially to belong” The Times
“There is no doubting the power of the story and the righteous anger of its telling” Shots magazine
About the author
ORIANA RAMUNNO (Melfi, 1980) lives in Berlin with her husband and three kids. Following a number of awarded crime novellas and short stories in various magazines, she pursued the writing of her debut thriller Ashes in the Snow inspired by the story of her grandfather, who was detained in the Flossenbürg concentration camp. She dedicated this book to him, a book she describes as “the last act of love in a long journey”.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Ramunno's debut novel is a wrenching murder mystery set in December 1943 at Auschwitz. Hugo Fischer, a criminologist at the Reich's main security office in Berlin with a secret case of multiple sclerosis, has been sent to the camp to investigate the death of Dr. Sigismund Braun, who worked closely with Josef Mengele, the notorious "Angel of Death" known for conducting inhumane experiments on prisoners. By the time Fischer arrives, Braun's corpse has been removed and his laboratory cleaned up, leaving Fischer with little evidence and only one witness: eight-year-old Gioele, who found the body and is being held in Auschwitz with his twin brother. In Berlin, little is known of the horrific conditions at the camp, and Fischer is shocked by what he sees. He's also increasingly desperate to keep secret his own debilitating condition, lest he become a target for the Reich. As Fischer, with Gioele's help, starts poking around Braun's murder, he unearths a secret network of SS officials with surprising sympathies who may be able to help with more than just the murder case. Ramunno delivers sound detective work and memorably tense atmosphere, but it's her multilayered protagonist and insights into an under-covered political movement within Nazi Germany that stand out. This marks the arrival of a major new voice in historical fiction.
