Emotional historical fiction centered around murder, motive, and resistance and set in Auschwitz during WWII. Hugo is an investigator, called into Auschwitz to locate the culprit when a prominent Nazi doctor is found dead. In the course of his investigation, he meets a young Jewish boy, Gioele, who is a "patient", and was the one to find the doctor's body. For the first time, Hugo is face to face with the atrocities being committed in the camps. It shocks him to his core, and he is forced to decide if finding the truth in this case will be worth the fallout. What kind of person does he want to be?

Like all historical fiction set in this time period, this read can be hard to take. What a heartbreaking and disgusting time. But this story was very well written, and did impart a sense of hope for the future. I really enjoyed the murder mystery/investigation element: something I've not seen before in historical fiction set during this era. Your heart immediately goes out to Gioele, and, though Hugo is flawed, as his motivations become clear you still can root for him as a protagonist. Obviously this deals with the darkest of subjects, but is definitely worth reading.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This is the story of a murder investigation that takes place in Auschwitz, Christmas 1943 (translated by Katherine Gregor).

The body of an SS officer is found in Block 10 by a young Jewish prisoner, eight-year-old Gioele Errera, with a talent for drawing.

Detective Hugo Fischer, a reputed criminologist, is sent from Berlin to investigate. He thought he'd seen it all in his work, but isn't ready for what he encounters at Auschwitz, which feels like 'one of the circles of Dante's Inferno.'

Gradually, he makes sense of what happened. This is not an easy read, but it is a necessary one.

Ashes in the Snow is an amazing novel about the investigation of the murder of a prominent doctor at Auschwitz. Detective Hugo Fischer is sent to investigate this murder. The fact that murder and other atrocities are occurring daily at Auschwitz are not lost on him as he completes his investigation. The brutality is graphic at times, but it didn't feel gratuitous. I think this book is brilliant, and I hope it's the start of a series. I'm anxious to read more about Detective Fischer and to see where life takes him. I can't recommend this novel enough. Thanks to NetGalley and HarperVia for the ARC.

Stories revolving around the Holocaust are always an emotional rollercoaster because of the horrific events. This story was hard to put down and well written/clear to understand.

This was a unique book that tells a story about Auschwitz that you don’t usually see written. A murder mystery that takes place in Auschwitz, and the main character Hugo Fischer is a detective called from Berlin to solve the murder of a “doctor” at Auschwitz.

The book has a surprise ending that I honestly didn’t see coming. It was a great read. I also liked how the author focused on the murder mystery of the story but also shone a light on the atrocities that were occurring to victims at the camp too.

4.5⭐️

In December 1943, criminologist Hugo Fischer called to the Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau to investigate the death of Dr. Sigismund Braun, a colleague of Dr. Josef Mengele. “the angel of death”. Dr. Braun’s body was discovered by eight-year-old Gioele, one of a set of Jewish twins whose family was deported to the concentration camp. Though the crime scene has been compromised, Hugo deduces that Dr. Braun was poisoned. A favorite of Dr. Mengele for reasons that are gradually revealed, Gioele is a perceptive child, who has a talent for drawing. Hugo befriends him and in exchange for tracking down his parents' whereabouts in the camp, Gioele agrees to help Hugo. His drawings and recollections of the crime scene prove to be helpful to Hugo’s investigation. The narrative follows Hugo as he tries to find a murderer among the deceased doctor's colleagues, family, and other SS officers all the while bearing witness to the brutality exacted upon prisoners in the camp. Surrounded by death and violence, Hugo bears witness to atrocities beyond his imagination. Suffering from a medical condition that he cannot reveal, Hugo is compelled to keep his head down and concentrate on the job at hand all while hiding his true feelings about everything that is happening around him. Hugo soon discovers that the deceased doctor had more than a few enemies amongst those with whom he associated, and some people would rather he not discover the truth and let an innocent man take the blame. Not everything is as it seems, and many are harboring secrets they would do anything to protect. When Hugo finally discovers the truth, he is faced with a difficult choice between doing his duty or listening to his conscience and following what his heart deems to be the right thing to do.

Inspired by the author’s Great Uncle’s experiences in a Nazi concentration camp, Ashes in the Snow by Oriana Ramunno is a dark but compelling work of historical fiction. Primarily a murder mystery set in a Nazi concentration camp, this novel also sheds light on the atrocities inflicted upon prisoners in these camps. Deemed ”subhuman” in a “place where everything was allowed, where the guinea pigs were easily disposable human beings”, inhuman medical experimentation was conducted on Jewish prisoners and children specifically chosen for that purpose. The author also gives us a glimpse into the efforts of the German Resistance who worked within these camps, risking their own lives to help in whatever way possible. Hugo is an admirable protagonist. The author does an excellent job of depicting Hugo’s pain, compassion and internal conflict. The mystery is well crafted and suspenseful with several red herrings and surprises along the way, leading up to a satisfying ending. Superb writing, an intricate evenly paced plot, the atmospheric setting and powerful characterizations render this novel a riveting read.

I combined my reading with the audiobook narrated by Saul Reichlin, who did a brilliant job of voicing the characters and breathing life into the story.

Many thanks to HarperVia, Harper Audio and NetGalley for the digital review copy and the ALC of this novel.

Needless to say, this is not an easy read. Detailed descriptions of medical experiments on children, abuse, and one particularly graphic episode of brutality toward the beginning of the novel may be disturbing for many.

Very enlightening read, the number of characters made a bit confusing but enjoyed reading it. Would recommend

It’s Christmas 1943 in Auschwitz and the mysterious circumstances surrounding SS Dr.Braun’s death brings Detective Hugo Fischer to uncover the truth. While this is a fictional story the circumstances presented in this story are all too true. Detective Fischer is faced with the awful truth of the goings on in Auschwitz, the truth about Dr.Braun work, reality of his own health if he fails. I thought this was well written and a page turner till the end. Will Detective Fischer uncover the truth of Dr.Braun’s murder, or face his own demons and do his part to help those trapped at Aushwitz.

My thanks to Net Galley and Harper for the opportunity to review this EXCELLENT read.

This was a unique read. I love Agatha Christie murder mysteries and I love ww2 fiction. This combined both. A doctor in Auschwitz was found murdered and a German criminologist with a disability, was sent in to solve. Good characters. Well written. Highly recommend and look forward to more from this author.

One of the best World War Two books I have read in a while!! This is a graphic book, so it is not for the faint of heart. But it is a book you will not regret reading. I highly recommend!!!!


Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and I was not required to write a favorable review. All opinions are my own.

I am always on the lookout for a fantastic historical fiction. This was unlike any other WW2, Concentration Camp storyline. I will warn you it's pretty detailed and graphic. I didn't mind, but just know that going in. It was a solid, unique read.

Ashes in the Snow by Oriana Ramunno
Publisher Harper Via
Release Date September 05, 2023


Characters: 5/5
Plot: 5/5
Pace: 5/5
Suspense: 5/5
Overall Enjoyment: 5/5


OMG……… I just read one of the best books I have read in a long time. This is such a captivating and challenging read. I only say challenging because of the things that happened at Aushwitz.. Christmas time in 1943 a body is found. It is that of Dr. Sigismund Braun. A researcher who worked in block 10 in Aushwitz. It was a young boy who found the body and he was known around Block 10 because he lived there. A very intelligent young man who was able to learn new things very quickly and that intrigued some of the other residents there. The book begins to get deeper and darker here.They believe that Braun died of an accidental chocking because there was a bite of an apple in his throat. The send in an admired Detective, Hugo Fischer, to determine the truth about Braun’s death. But now the detective is forced to answer questions that both pertain to the death of Braun as well as his thoughts on his part for not challenging the rules set up by the Nazi government. Fischer has gone from a supporter of the Nazi regime to someone who is now reluctant to obey the commands given. The question that needs answered is will he find the truth about Braun’s death and can he fix the turmoil going on inside of his head?

This is a very well written and fast paced novel that will keep the reader engrossed to the point that you will feel just as though you want the character to redeem himself and realize that the past if hidden will ultimately repeat itself.

5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley as well as the author and publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my unbiased and honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book. I t was an unusual read since it involved a criminologist who was sent to Aushwitz to solve a murder. Which was pretty ironic since the multitudes of people killed daily in this "work" camp was a crime against humanity. Nevertheless, this was an interesting premise in the book.

The detective who was sent from Berlin saw first hand the workings of the evil SS officers as they systematically killed Jews and undesirable daily. He interviewed doctors, nurses, and camp prisoners trying to determine the cause of death of the doctor who was found to have choked to death on a piece of apple.

The plot was intriguing and once more I learned new information about the Holocaust.

Place an old fashioned murder mystery with a setting at Auschwitz at Christmas in 1943. The elements of a murder mystery are there with a few red herrings. The setting is hard to swallow. I've read many books about concentration camps, and this one absolutely spares no details. The book kept me guessing and hoping for the best for the characters.

I received a free copy of this book by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperAudio for this book in exchange for an honest review.

As someone who has done rather extensive research on the Holocaust and Auschwitz I found this book unique and honest. The book follows Hugo, a criminologist, as he battles with himself to solve the murder of a horrifying SS Doctor at Auschwitz. He is surrounded by death and inhumanity, hiding his own illness, and yet still must play his part. It is playing his part which disgusts him throughout, and drives this book along.

I was conflicted while reading that the reader is supposed to sympathize with camp nurses who work with children and experiment victims, as well as an SS officer, but I believe that is the point of the book. Being disgusted at the actions around you and actions you feel forced to take while secretly resisting in other ways.

Excellent premise with deep and well developed characters. This one's a thinker for sure. It ended p not being quite my taste but by no means is a bad book.

A murder mystery set in an unlikely place…where so few lives were considered to have any value.

In December, 1943 a young boy discovers a dead body, and w.hat makes this story so unique is found in the details. The dead body is that of Dr. Sigismund Braun, who worked in the building known as Block 10 at Auschwitz. There Dr. Braun was engaged in research for the Reich, alongside several others. Giole is the boy who finds the dead man. He is a gifted and highly intelligent Italian youngster who lives in Block 10, where he is a favorite of a man he calls Uncle Mengele. He is a very attractive child, a talented artist, adept at learning new languages….but he is also Jewish and a twin, which makes him of great interest to Mengele. His twin does not share his inquisitive nature, and is consequently more frequently experimented upon by the doctors, though Giole remains unaware of the distinction. Braun’s death is first thought to be an accident, caused by a chunk of apple found in his throat on which he is presumed to have choked. But rumors are flying around the camp, and help is sought from Berlin. And so Detective Hugo Fischer, a reknowned criminologist who is resented by his supervisor, is sent to investigate and put the rumors to rest. Hugo has heard whispers about things that go on at Auschwitz, and his boss has warned him to keep his nose out of anything not directly related to his investigation. This is Hitler’s Germany, after all, and those who value their career and their life criticize actions taken by the Reich at their own peril. From the moment Hugo arrives at the camp, he is exposed to casual brutality, nauseating smells and sights, and confirmation that truly evil things are happening there. Hugo is no devout Nazi; he has learned not to make waves, to say what is expected of him, and to focus on doing his job rather than on what is going on around him. He also has something to hide; he is suffering from a physical condition that, to the eyes of those pursuing healthy Aryan perfection, would render him defective and damaged. If his secret were discovered, he would lose his job…and possibly his life. He medicates himself with morphine when symptoms flair, as of course they begin to do upon his arrival at Auschwitz. As he interviews people who were in Braun’s orbit, including young Giole, he realizes that Braun’s death was no accident, it was murder. He alsosees the different classes of residents at the camp, for it is far more complicated and nuanced than just Nazis and their prisoners. There are the German officers and medical staff, both doctors and nurses, who are of course the most highly favored. But there are German prisoners who are not Jewish; criminals, Gypsies, Communists and others who have fallen afoul of the regime. There are also Jewish prisoners who, while still reviled, have a better life in the camp because they are perceived to be of some value….some who were doctors, for example, and are still used in that capacity. Hugo discovers that he is not the only person deeply troubled by what is going on at Auschwitz, the medical experimentation that goes against international standards and of course the mass killing of prisoners. Hugo must find a killer, keep his health condition from being noticed, and wrestle with his conscience as he sees atrocity after atrocity committed in front of him and about which he can do nothing.
Hugo is a fascinating character, definitely flawed and both well aware of and ashamed by his cowardice in the face of evil. Yet he is too honorable and too committed to his job to settle for a convenient answer to the death of this Nazi doctor. Most characters seem to have some measure of conflict with which they struggle….an ardent Nazi who is sexually attracted to a Jewish nurse, a German woman of quality who has been imprisoned for her Communist views and accepts a life as a prostitute for the German soldiers rather than live the bleak life of most prisoners, and a gifted young boy who can’t (or won’t) see the evil and danger which surround him. The novel is well-plotted and paced, and the characters are fully developed and intriguing. It was no more obvious to me than it was to Hugo who the killer might be, nor was it clear when or even if Hugo would be able to get to some measure of truth. I was also fascinated to learn that the story was inspired by author Oriana Ramunno’s great-uncle, who didn’t share his story of having been interned in a concentration camp until the author was 18. His memories and the author’s own research over the following year helped to frame the degrees of evil and willful ignorance found in the German characters in the book, as well as the reality that some actually did try in some fashion to help the Jews around them. Not enough, some would rightly argue, but even some small measure of help may have saved a few lives, or rendered those lives marginally less difficult. I found Ashes in the Snow to be not only an intriguing story, but also a though-provoking look at people living under the Nazi regime. This is not a book for those looking for a sanitized read; violence and gore are to be found between the covers, as they were in the camp itself. Readers of books like Robert Harris’ Fatherland, Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief and Philip Kerr’s Bernie Gunther series will likely find this novel of interest, as would any who like a well-crafted mystery and have an interest in Germany in the last days of the Nazis. Many thanks to NetGalley and to HarperVia and HarperCollins Publishers for an advanced reader’s copy of Ashes in the Snow, as well as to Oriana Ramunno and Katherine Gregor, who translated the novel from the Italian.

It seems like such a strange setting for a murder mystery...Auschwitz, Christmas, 1943, but it's ingenious. This is a superbly written murder mystery that doesn't let the reader forget for one second the atrocities that are occurring in Auschwitz. I've read many historical novels about the Holocaust but this one still managed to give me a lot of brand new information. The accounts of the casual brutality of the SS guards are plentiful and make this extremely difficult to read. The author pulls no punches in describing the horrific medical experiments done by Dr. Mengele and others on the prisoners.

Secondary to the solving of the murder of one of the SS doctors, is the metamorphosis of the detective, Berliner Hugo Fischer. Faced with the unimaginable cruelty in Auschwitz, he is forced to ask himself the hard questions of his culpability for not resisting the Nazi racial laws, book banning, and boycotts. Now that he knows the truth, what can he do?

The imagery used by this author is both exquisite & horrific, which made me feel as unbalanced as Hugo did. This book is deeply researched and based on the experiences of the author's great uncle. With the rising tide of fascism, we must never forget what the dehumanization of specific groups of people can lead to.

Many thanks to NetGalley and HarperVia for the opportunity to read the ARC. The review is my own.

Ashes in the snow - Ariani Ramunno

Thanks to the publisher and to Netgalley for this eARC.

Trigger warning - Graphic torture and violence - as this novel is set in WWII Germany, this story reflects and describes the unimaginable brutality, torture and cruelty imposed by soulless murders under Hitler's realm, upon the innocent; This brutality is reflected, in part, in this review.

The title of this novel refers to the bodily remains left in the snow after an SS officer stomps a baby to death in front of the baby's mother, who the officer then kills, after she has witnessed this horrific murder. I am sure it also reflects the hideousness of ashes of humans as they were burned alive, em masse in the crematoriums.

A well-written, powerful novel, the main character in this story grows from a reluctant Nazi, who formerly was able to live with himself for allowing others to get away with unimaginable crimes by holding everything at arm's length.

However, when he is forced to confront the unimaginable up close, he becomes a reluctant, but willing, heroic character by doing what he can, helping, one life at a time.

I cannot say this is an enjoyable novel, however those of us who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.

This is a well-written, well-paced novel with excellent character develoment. Additionally, the redeeming lesson that I took from it is that even in the darkest deaths of evil, you can somehow find a way to do what is right. In this scenario, the only people could do good acts in that dreadful morally bankrupt cesspool, was to pretend they were as devoid of soul as every other Nazi, so that they could remain alive to help from within that death machine, to me, although was hidden.

What times they were when those who cared and loved their fellow humans were judged to be weak and unfit.

Until next time...