I felt like this was two stories at once. The Nazis seemed to be very much a background to the mystery. I would have liked to see the stories work together a bit more seamlessly.

An immersive period suspense with a touch of romance. The characters and plot were well fleshed-out and compelling, making the brief epilogue a bit unsatisfying as it didn’t address the fate of a side character near and dear to one of the principals.

This novel had such a great premise but ultimately it fell flat. The enemies to lovers trope. The bio-mother serial killer plot - completely unnecessary. The story was intelligent and well written but drags. But also rushed somehow? Maybe it was with all the unnecessary backstory and sub-plots? I don't know.

typically like thrillers and especially anything during this time period (fiction and nonfiction) but Some Murders in Berlin just didn't resonate with me.

Thanks to NetGalley, I had the privilege of receiving an advanced copy to read. This book started a bit slow and was hard to read, but it eventually picked up and was well thought out.

Dr. Murder was the moniker Professor Elin Lund has been given. Wanted or not. Solving murders with psychological profiles has been her claim to fame. Having to do it under the eyes of Hitler's regime is a whole other story.

Working on this serial murder case with the officer in charge, Kurt Schneider, was going to be taxing. But she had to get through it. To get herself and her team back home. Home to her son - who, being half Jewish, is at constant risk.

This book is SO good!! So many elements that kept me constantly keeping me on the edge of my seat!

Karen Robards weaves a gripping tale of suspense and intrigue in Some Murders in Berlin. Set against the backdrop of World War II, the story follows a captivating duo: a brilliant female professor, an expert on serial killers, and a determined German police detective. As they delve into the investigation of a sinister serial killer terrorizing Berlin, Robards masterfully captures the tension and uncertainty of wartime Germany, adding layers of complexity to both the characters and the plot.

Robards skillfully blends historical detail with a heart-pounding mystery, keeping readers on the edge of their seats until the very end. The tense dynamic between the professor and the detective adds depth to the narrative, as they navigate personal and professional challenges while racing against time to catch a ruthless killer. Some Murders in Berlin' is a must-read for fans of historical fiction and suspense, offering a compelling glimpse into the dark underbelly of war-torn Berlin. I read it in a day- I didn’t want to put it down! Now I’m sad that I don’t have it to read. If you like crime novels, historical fiction, or better yet a combination of the two, this is the novel for you. 4.25/5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this as an ARC!

A twisty WWII historical murder mystery that sees a new psychiatric forensic scientist helping the German police track down a serial killer.
Denmark had just surrendered to the Nazis when Professor Elin Lund, a forensic psychiatrist, from Copenhagen is directed by Nazi command to go to Berlin to investigate a serial killer. Blonde women have been found murdered in identical situations.
Elin can’t disobey. She’s hiding a secret, or two.
This title was twisty, heart stopping and intriguing. Karen really knows how to co-mingle genres. This war novel brought the mystery, the history and a bit of romance too.

Please read my review at Shelf Awareness: https://www.shelf-awareness.com/sar-issue.html?issue=1239#m24130

If there is one thing about me, it's that I LOVE a WWII historical novel. Make it a mystery novel and it's even better! This entire book was incredibly fast paced and well done. I couldn't book this book down the entire time I was reading it! Thanks so much to Harlequin Trade Publishing | MIRA and NetGalley for the ARC!

In Berlin during World War II, Dr. Elin Lund is an expert in psychological profiling, and she’s been summoned from Copenhagen to investigate the gruesome murders of eight young women. With her homeland now under Nazi occupation and a young son to protect, Elin can’t refuse such a request.

Homicide Detective Kurt Schneider, head of the criminal police unit, is not welcoming at all The orders to find the killer come from the top, and to fail means death. The stakes are too high to risk any mistakes. This pair, trapped in this partnership, needs the other one. Each one is guarding secrets.

Every bit of evidence reveals a killer more dangerous and more powerful, than anyone suspected. I really liked the plot in this historical romance.

Some Murders in Berlin is a well written WWII historical mystery novel. This book is set in Berlin during World War II, and I found it to be very fast paced and engaging. This was my first Karen Robards novel and I would say she hit it out of the park, I will be back for more. The book deals with a serial killer killing Aryan women in the city and the government is trying to keep the citizens from finding out, along with a host of characters who have their own secrets this book will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Eight women slaughtered. Not a headline the Nazis want broadcast to the citizens of Berlin in 1943. Nothing can affect morale at home or the front. Therefore, Dr. Murder must be consulted, regardless of what the lead investigator thinks. Elin Lund detests the moniker she has earned through her forensic psychiatric work. No matter how much she wants to stay in Denmark to protect her half-Jewish daughter from the evil that threatens Copenhagen, Elin feels compelled to help two colleagues who work for the Resistance and are being hunted by the Nazis. They accompany her to Berlin to aid the investigation and to hide in plain sight. If they are discovered, all three will die.

Despite the skepticism of Kriminalinspektor Kurt Schneider, Elin scours the crime scenes for clues, which are easily lost in the rubble from nightly bombings. But the connection between the women remains elusive. One piece of evidence suggests the culprit has ties to the SS. This knowledge endangers both Elin and Kurt for different reasons, both associated with their pasts. Trust becomes an issue because they are enemies who must work together.

Robards has crafted a complex mystery, set in a well-known historical period. The usual subjects are covered in atypical ways that make the story fresh and compelling. Tension, conflict, psychology, and atmosphere combine to clearly demonstrate how the past affects the present and influences who characters are. Danger may lurk in the shadows of Some Murders in Berlin, but the threats and peril are palpable enough to make readers constantly look over their shoulders.

Some Murders in Berlin by Karen Robards is historical fiction at its best. Professor Elin Lund, a Danish forensic psychologist, is called to Berlin to help identify a brutal serial killer. Coming from an occupied country, it is impossible for her to refuse. Berlin in 1943 is dangerous enough, what with Allied bombs and the Nazi Gestapo, but now Lund and her team have to face a manic murderer as well. With political pressure weighing heavily on the Berlin cops to find an "acceptable" suspect - preferably Jewish - Lund finds herself in a race against time. Highly readable and recommended.

I was excited to read Karen Robards’ newest book, Some Murders in Berlin. I had previously read The Black Swan of Paris and The Girl from Guernica by her and had been impressed with her writing and plot development in both of those books. Some Murders in Berlin definitely lived up to my expectations. It was fast paced, filled with tension and was action packed. It was set in Berlin, Germany during World War II and examined a very unique situation that was occurring in the city. I would describe Some Murders in Berlin as a World War II historical fiction murder mystery thriller.

A serial killer had made their presence known in Berlin and had already killed eight young Aryan women in much the same way. The German government was trying to prevent the public from finding out about these horrific killings. They needed the German men to continue fighting for the Nazis. If German husbands, sons or brothers were made aware that a serial killer existed and was still loose on the streets, those men would probably want to return home to protect their wives, mothers, sisters and daughters. That was something that the Nazis wanted to avoid at all costs. The Nazis had their best personnel working on this case but so far they had not been able to stop the killings or identify the killer. They needed help.

Shortly after the Nazis took control of Denmark, Dr. Elin Lund was summoned to Berlin. Dr. Elin Lund was a well respected psychological profiler. Many referred to Elin as “The Murder Doctor “. In September of 1943, Elin dropped her young son off with her late husband’s family and boarded a train headed for Berlin. Elin usually worked alone but this time she was accompanied by two academic colleagues of hers who were also members of the Danish Resistance. Both Pia and Jens needed an escape route from Copenhagen. They were in danger of being caught by the Nazis for the acts they carried out for the resistance. Pia was a photographer and was able to sketch portraits from verbal descriptions given by witnesses. Jens was a brilliant mathematician. Beside wanting to help them escape from Denmark, Elin knew their expertise would prove valuable in helping her solve the case. Elin was not thrilled about going to Berlin. The last time that she was there, Elin had been a young girl. She had accompanied her parents to Berlin. Her father was scheduled to speak at a conference in Berlin. Elin’s father had been a well known and respected police detective. The day her father was speaking, Elin and her mother spent the day together. That was the worst day of Elin’s life. Her mother had tragically died in a hit and run accident as her mother started to cross a road. The car came out of nowhere and hit her mother head on and then sped away. Elin had witnessed the entire incident. She had not been back to Berlin since that tragic day.

When Elin, Pia and Jens arrived in Berlin, they were introduced to Kriminalinspektor Kurt Schneider, the head of the criminal police and in charge of the case Elin would be working on. Kurt Schneider was far from welcoming. He probably resented that Dr. Elin Lund had been brought in on this case. The two were forced to work together. Kriminalinspektor Schneider informed Elin that she always had to be aware of who was listening when she wanted to convey something. Phones were tapped and listening devices were planted everywhere. As Elin began to build a psychological profile of the killer, she suspected that the killer had ties to the police department, had a troubled childhood that included violence, was fluent in Kurrent, a distinct way of writing and reading German and had type A blood. As Kurt and Elin explored all the leads and clues they gathered, they started to develop respect for one another. That eventually led them to develop feelings for one another. There was more to Kurt than Elin had suspected at first. The more Elin got to know Kurt, the more she began to understand him and like him. Kurt became very protective of Elin once the killer set his sights on her. Real danger awaited both of them around every corner. Elin’s main goal was to identify and catch the killer as quickly as possible so she could return to Denmark and to her young son. She missed him dearly and worried about his safety. Would Kurt and Elin be able to put the pieces of the puzzle together and discover who the killer was before the killer struck again?

I really enjoyed reading this riveting historical fiction murder mystery book by Karen Robards. Some Murders in Berlin was full of twists. Many of the characters were harboring secrets, including Elin and Kurt. Karen Robards included many high profile Nazis in the book, explored the existence of German nightclubs which often played music that was forbidden by the Nazis and took a close look at the Lebensborn society and the Black Orchestra, a small group of Nazis who were secretly sympathetic to the welfare of the Jewish people and helped them escape. i couldn’t read Some Murders in Berlin fast enough to see what was going to happen next. It was the kind of story that put me at the edge of my seat throughout the entire book. I highly recommend it if you enjoy a good mystery that was set in Nazi Germany during World War II.

Thank you to Harlequin/ MIRA Publishing for allowing me to read Some Murders in Berlin by Karen Robards through Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

Another good page turner by Robards. To my knowledge, Professor Lund, Detective Kurt Schneider and the murdered women are all fictional characters. The rescue of Jewish people and children from Germany is true. However, the story is totally believable and keeps you involved until the last page.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity read this and provide my feedback

I love historical fiction in this era. A serial killer, crime thriller written so well I thought I was there. I truly enjoyed the female lead. She was smart and witty.. tjis is my first book by this author and will not be my last. I give this 4.5 stars

Lately I have found myself reading more and more in the pre- and post WWII era, so when I saw this book, by Karen Robards, I was immediately interested. I have been enjoying her books for decades--wow, that ages both of us, doesn't it?--and when I started reading it, I didn't want to quit till I was finished!

This particular book features a female who lives in Denmark, a police psychiatrist who is renowned for her ability to solve crimes, being asked--forcibly--by the Nazis to come to Berlin to investigate a murder. She arrives with two others who are being looked for in Copenhagen for anti-Nazi activities, and all three of them are in danger from that incident. She is required to work with a German police detective, who used to be the head of that department, but got on the wrong side of Himmler, got sent to the USSR and was wounded, and also suffers from PTSD, or shell shock as it was referred to back then. They get darned little help and a lot of actual hindrance from the Nazi party, and eventually fall in love while working together. They DO solve the crime, and a few others, and then due to the war, return to their separate lives. I was happy to see that there was an HOA!

This book was a very interesting study in how crime was studied and solved in the 1930's and 40's, and just how far women have now come since then in not only this field, but many others. I feel like this author has come a LONG way in her craft since she first started writing romances back in the day! I heartily recommend reading this book!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley; the opinions expressed are all my own.

Elin Lund is a single mother whose husband was killed because he was part of the resistance in WWII Copenhagen. She is summoned to Berlin to solve the murders of several young women. The assignment is perilous because she will be working in Nazi Germany with Nazi police and investigators. Not only that, she has asked two of her coworkers to join her under the auspices of needing their expertise, but really, she is hiding them because they are also part of the resistance effort in Copenhagen. Elin wants to spend as little time as possible on this assignment in order to get back to her young son. Elin is distrustful of the homicide detective to whom she is assigned, Kurt Schneider. However, as she works with him, she sees a different side of him and they form an uneasy partnership. This was a fast-moving story with interesting characters. I enjoyed it very much! Thank you, NetGalley, for the advanced readers's copy.

REVIEW WILL RUN IN THE NEXT TWO WEEKS

One of my favorite books last year dealt with a killer using the backdrop of war to get away with his crimes, so when I saw Some Murders in Berlin I was excited to revisit that plot. Unfortunately, the author fails to make good use of the possibilities presented by such a setting and instead provides us with a rather generic romantic suspense novel.

September 1943: It’s an offer she can’t refuse. Dr. Elin Lund is summoned to Berlin just days after Denmark is placed under direct military occupation by the Nazis. Elin has earned herself a reputation as an expert in the budding science of psychological profiling, and the German higher-ups have determined to put her and the entire field under scrutiny through the investigation of the horrific murders of eight young women in the Fatherland.

The situation is precarious. The Germans had been permanent “guests” in Denmark since 1939, but this latest maneuver is a frightening escalation of her nation’s troubles. Especially terrifying for Elin, since her in-laws are Jewish, her husband died while opposing the Nazis when they first arrived, and her son is, therefore, a half-Jewish child of a political criminal. Elin does not wish to leave him and travel to her enemy’s homeland, but she has no choice

Elin meets Homicide Detective Kurt Schneider, head of the criminal police unit, at the scene of the latest crime. He’s not thrilled to see her, and at the start, the two find themselves at odds with just how the investigation should be handled. Then they learn that the Fuhrer himself is following the case, which means certain death for them, their teammates, and most likely their families if they fail to find the killer quickly. Realizing that their lives depend on their ability to cooperate, the two combine their expertise to chase down a clever sociopath determined to evade them. But as they grow ever closer to finding their heartless perpetrator, they find themselves with heart issues of their own. Falling in love is impossible - they each have a lot of baggage to handle, which makes the war particularly dangerous for them. But falling in love seems inevitable - she is the brave, beautiful, intelligent partner he has always longed for. And he is the only man caring enough, fearless enough, and protective enough to heal her of the losses this war has inflicted.

This is a murder mystery set in WWII Germany. It deals with subjects relevant to the time in language used by the people of that era. This would include antisemitism, harm to children, concentration camps, infanticide, and many other similar issues. The violence is not graphic, but it is prevalent.

I struggled with this book from the start. It was hard to care about eight people dying at the hands of a serial killer when so many around them were dying equally horrific deaths due to the system those folks were supporting. Whether it was the endless bombing or the concentration camps, a whole lot of innocent people were facing death in Germany or because of Germany at that moment. I also didn’t see a clear distinction between the villain and those chasing him. The police under this regime participated in events like Kristallnacht and the roundup of Jewish Citizens, so for all intents and purposes, they were equivalent to the murderous SS. (For a non-fiction look at a police unit with a particularly brutal history, I recommend Ordinary Men by Christopher R. Browning). Elin and Kurt often find themselves reporting to generals, some of whom are in Hitler’s inner council. In addition, Robards fell back on her sexually dysfunctional uber-villain formula, a hallmark of her mysteries since 1994. There were many paths she could have taken with that character, given when and where our story takes place, that would have added some depth, but alas, it was not to be. As a result of all of this combined, the mystery was a struggle for me to immerse myself in.

None of the characters fared any better than our trite villain. Let’s begin with Kurt. I knew it would take a lot for a German police officer working for the Third Reich to be a romance-worthy hero, so I was expecting him to secretly loathe the Fuhrer and be actively working against him. Nailed it. However, the fact that Kurt was being carefully scrutinized by numerous military officials but still somehow managed to participate in clandestine anti-government activities triggered my suspension of disbelief. The passing of vital information, perhaps helping forge documents or hiding evidence were all things I could accept, but the other actions he took just made zero sense. They could only have happened in a novel.

While I found Kurt unbelievable, I found Elin confusing. When she first meets Kurt, she’s the typical feisty heroine, eager to assert her expertise and opinions. I wouldn’t have thought that would be wise with a Nazi whom she knew nothing about, especially since her “team” consists of two Dutch resistance agents being searched for in Copenhagen. She brought them with her because she believes they can hide better in Berlin. That logic perplexed me. Equally confounding is that Elin’s husband was hung during the early days of the occupation for resisting, but somehow the Nazis are unaware of his connection to her. (In fairness, she uses her maiden name, but given how thorough the Germans were, I found it hard to believe that’s all it took to hide. ) Due to all this, I would have thought being cautious would have worked better than argumentative but whatever. The author also threw in a complicated midnarrative twist to Elin’s backstory which seemed both unnecessary and unbelievable, disconnecting me from her even more. In the end, she was more of a caricature than a person.

I recognize that life is messy, humans are challengingly multifaceted, and numerous people miraculously evaded the Nazis, but within the confines of this text, it didn’t work. The author failed to convey any sense of plausibility to me as the reader. Much of the blame lies with the fact that the characters had complex backstories but no personality beyond those anecdotes about their past.

There is some interesting history here, and Ms.Robard is a thirty-year veteran of the genre whose experience is exhibited in her smooth prose. However, a mystery that doesn’t work coupled with characters that are little better than tropes makes Some Murders in Berlin a slow, occasionally arduous read.

I dnf'd at 12%. I was in the mood for a thriller tonight and I was allured by the cover. In retrospect, I should have read the blurb beyond gruesome murders of eight young women because I wouldn't have seen the word Nazi and not even given it the time of day. I admit my fault in my poor judgment.