Death Squad London Book Review

If you are into thrillers, and murder and suspense type books you will not regret taking a look at this.

The story is set in London in 1936 and follows the hero, a German refugee by the name of Ernst Lohmann. Ernst was formerly a top detective in Berlin but was forced to leave the country because of his opposition to the Nazi’s.

In London he lives one step above the poverty line, but when an old Jew’s daughter supposedly commits suicide, and the courts confirm that verdict, the father asks Lohmann to investigate.

And investigate he does during which he meets and falls in love with the late girl’s best friend. She is a wealthy heiress with connections in the government and it is not long before Ernst is meeting and questioning the out of office Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister himself Stanley Baldwin, and even the uncrowned King Edward VIII, he of Mrs Simpson and abdication fame.

Along the way he discovers a gigantic conspiracy that I am not going to go into here. The story rattles along at a cracking pace and accurately portrays the spirit of the times from the Cable Street riots against Oswald Mosley’s blackshirts, to pre-war German spies on hiking holidays across England, checking out the airfields.

There are a couple of small errors within. The author repeatedly talks of New Scotland Yard, surely it was just Scotland Yard back then, and the wail of sirens from the police cars. Even I can remember the rather genteel continuous bell that English police cars reluctantly exuded.

But we can forgive these minor faults because the book is a cracking read and most enjoyable. Highly recommended. I am now seeking out the sister book Death’s Head Berlin.

Book Title: Death Squad London

Author: Jack Gerson

ISBN: 0491034482

Publication date: 1989

Price: Not known

Death Squad London Book Review