This one was extremely uncomfortable and difficult to listen to - as it should be, considering the setting and characters the author chose to illuminate. I'm not sure if it's my pregnancy hormones making me more emotional, but I had such a difficult time listening to some descriptions of the brutalities of the concentration camp that I actually had to stop listening several times throughout the novel. Listening to audiobooks is something I typically do while eating or relaxing, and this story isn't made for those types of situations. The narrator was fabulous though - crisp, clear and easy pronunciation of the novel.

What a satisfactory ending though! I was happy to finally see character growth in Hugo, as small as the victory might have seemed - small victories were all that were possible during that time, particularly by an individuals.

I haven't seen Auschwitz personally, but I have visited Dachau. And let me tell you, this novel brought me right back there to the eerie, chilling and haunted chambers that saw such incredible cruelty and atrocities.

As for the mystery, I thought the author did a great job with keeping you guessing. There were definitely hints as to who the killers of Braun would eventually be, but there was enough doubt from other characters that kept me guessing until the reveal.

The characterization and backstory of each of the characters was done extremely well. I normally try to stay away from WWII novels, as I feel I've just read too many of them. However, I did find this murder mystery set in such a dangerous place to be a relatively fresh take on the time period.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eaudiobook!

This is my review, as posted on Goodreads:

I am grateful to the publishers for providing a copy of this audiobook for me to listen to and review.

I really enjoyed this unique take on a WW2 Auschwitz novel. I read a lot of books from this time period and am always looking for something different and unique, so the fact that this book was a mystery that took place in Auschwitz was right up my alley. The only difficulty I found was keeping some of the characters straight since I was listening to them and didn’t have the physical book in front of me to see the names printed, which always helps me keep track better. The secondary story line of the medical experimentation, especially on twins, was so disturbing and heartbreaking. I loved the ending though…bittersweet…but I’m glad there was a touch of goodness and happiness in the end.

Overall I enjoyed this audiobook a lot and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in WW2 era novels.

Murder, forbidden love, danger around every corner…can the killer be found and will the little witness be believed?
1843 Auschwitz, Christmas season (during WWII)- Little Gioele Errera, imprisoned in the jewish encampment, finds the body of a Nazi soldier and brings attention to it. Detective Hugo, investigator, has a terrible secret he is hiding in addition to the friendship he has formed with the young boy witness. He is placed in a precarious predicament where he is forced to make a life or death decision. How will he chose?
Saul Reichlin, narrator, has a gift for storytelling. His calm, smooth voice with appropriate tonality and emotion brought life to the written words. Telling the difference between characters, even with the well performed German accent, was easily accomplished. The pace and rhythm of the story was perfect as to enable you to take in the details of the writer, yet maintain the story’s natural flow.
Overall, author Oriana Ranunno told a beautiful story with clues to keep you guessing about the killer, and reaching into the mind of the young witness as well as the investigator. There was danger around the corner as you were not sure what the Nazi Soldiers or Commanders might do without restraint. It was obvious, Oriana did a great amount of research in order to bring this story accurately to life. I enjoyed this book!
Tigger warning: infant murder, abuse, adultery
I definitely recommend this book to any history lover as well as mystery lover. I look forward to more books by this author.
Thank you NetGalley and Harper Audio for the audio copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.

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.