Secret of the White Rose (Stefanie Pintoff)

The third installment in the Simon Ziele mystery series certainly delivers. Pintoff has created a character that a reader can very much care about. Simon has flaws, but he's so earnest and honest that you can't help liking him.

This time around, Ziele is back in New York, having left the small town where he has worked as one of two cops. His friend, Alistair Sinclair, calls him in to help investigate the murder of a judge that Alistair knew. This judge had been presiding over the trail of an anarchist that had set a bomb in New York that killed several people, including a child.

Of course, this murder is only the beginning of what becomes an increasingly complicated and bloody case. It also becomes quite personal for Ziele in a way he could never have foreseen. It looks like Pintoff may continue to mine Ziele's sad and dramatic past into the series. It could have seemed forced, but so far it hasn't. That may not work from here on in, but I will always give Pintoff the benefit of the doubt.

Ziele's relationship with Alistair becomes more complicated with this book. Alistair's flaws and his own past become a crucial part of this story. Pintoff has never written this relationship in a way that makes them real partners, and she's certainly never had Alistair appear as a sidekick. Indeed, in this book, Isabella has a much bigger role than she had in A Curtain Falls. I'm hoping this continues, not only because it would be great to see her spend more time with Ziele. She's smart, resourceful, and I think Ziele may overestimate how much their different backgrounds affect their relationship.

I'm looking forward to the next installment. So far, Pintoff has avoided going through an obvious route. Indeed, she's exercised a lot of restraint in particular in the relationship between Ziele and Isabella. It's one of the reasons I continue to look forward to her books.

Next up: The Soldier's Wife, by Margaret Leroy.

In The Garden of Beasts: Love Terror and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin (Erik Larson)

Perhaps I read a little too much about World War II. I hadn't really thought about it until a friend of mine pointed it out. However, if you take a look at the fiction and nonfiction that is making it to bookstores, a lot of it is set during World War II.

And why not? Those times had everything that makes a good story--though I would never say I'm sorry I missed living during those troubled times. But all the best and the worst in people came out then. Obviously, readers today still create a demand for books on the subject.

Erik Larson decided to tell a story about World War II from the point of view of a family that saw itself in the middle of the storm as it gained momentum. Lets face it: most of us have heard about the appeasement policy implemented by Lord Chamberlain, but we seldom hear about what the American ambassador in Berlin thought or did. Larson tells their story.

William Dodd, the unfortunate soul that found himself having to deal with a Germany plunging into darkness, became ambassador to Berlin in 1933. President Roosevelt assigned him after having five other men turn down the job. Dodd asked for the job because he believed it would allow him time to finish his History of the South, an encyclopedic collection that was his life's work. He had studied in Germany as a young man and had always loved the country. He had quite a rude awakening once he arrived in Berlin. Between the internal drama with people in the State Department and dealing with the rising Nazi leadership, he saw himself in a situation that would have taxed any diplomat.

Dodd took his entire family with him, including his daughter, Martha. She was quite a character--at 23 she'd had several lovers and an estranged husband. She managed to sleep with Nazis, communists, and a few men in between. She caused quite a scandal within the State Department, given that her father did nothing to curve her behavior. I'm not sure if that shows what a blind spot Dodd had in regards to his daughter or if he just let her live her life as she saw fit. Martha definitely personifies how many people felt during the beginning of the Nazi regime. At first, she defended it vigorously. As she saw more of what was going on, she changed her tune. It's easy to forget how many people didn't see the Nazis as a threat at all.

Larson's prose reads like fiction. He doesn't quote anything that he hasn't read in documentation of the time, but he still manages to drive this story in a way that deeply engrosses the reader. It could have been another dry book on American diplomacy during Hitler's rise to power, but his approach and his writing style make it a pleasure to read.

Next up: Secret of the White Rose, by Stefanie Pintoff.