Publication Date: June 25, 2024
This pulse-pounding, brilliantly twisting new historical thriller is a gripping tale that will leave you questioning everything.
September 1943: Berlin is the heart of darkness—and the last place Dr. Elin Lund wishes to be. An expert in psychological profiling, she’s been summoned from Copenhagen to investigate the gruesome murders of eight young women. Even in the midst of unspeakable evil, these killings stand apart. And 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 grudging in his welcome. The orders to find the killer come from the top, and to fail means death. The stakes are too high to risk any mistakes—or to trust a stranger. Yet the pair, trapped in an uneasy partnership, each has expertise the other needs. And Schneider, like Elin, is clearly guarding secrets of his own.
Racing to complete the investigation and return to her son, Elin feels the net tightening. Every sliver of evidence reveals a killer infinitely more dangerous, and more powerful, than anyone suspected. And in drawing closer to the terrifying truth, Elin has unwittingly made herself his new obsession…
A serial killer on the loose. A profiler with a hidden past. Trust is a luxury no one can afford.
A serial killer is stalking Arian women in war-torn Berlin, and the Nazis bring in Danish psychological profiler Dr. Elin Lund, “Dr. Murder,” to help solve the murders in Some Murders in Berlin by  Karen Robards.
Due to a recent incident with the Dutch Resistance, Elin brings two of her academic colleagues with her as they are suspected of being part of the incident. Pia is an artist, and Jens, a brilliant mathematician. Elin must find a way for them to assist in the investigation.
Elin, Pia, and Lars all hate the Nazis but find themselves helping the police find this serial killer, minding their words and actions to cover their actual feelings. Elin is supposed to be a highly intelligent woman, yet throughout the book, she makes idiotic, unsafe, and irrational decisions.
Finding a serial killer in a country riddled with thousands of serial killers (Gestapo, SS, etc.) was a giant plot hole I struggled with. How do you differentiate one murder from all the atrocities committed during that time?
Though the writing is well done, I grappled with the premise of this novel, as so much seemed far-fetched and implausible. There were too many things I couldn’t get past. Bringing Dutch Resistance fighters to the heart of Nazi Germany rather than finding a way for them to hide underground or get out of any Nazi-occupied country was just the first of many implausible elements.
Robards is a fabulous author, and it pained me to deduct stars from this one, but part of writing is coming up with plausible storylines, and this one just didn’t work for me. However, this could appeal to others.
Some Murders in Berlin takes a profiler into the heart of Berlin to find a serial killer before he kills again.
Karen Robards is the New York Times, USA TODAY and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of fifty novels and one novella. She is the winner of six Silver Pen awards and numerous other awards.
