I feel badly calling a true crime book forgettable. There’s an implication that the victim, in this case, Brigitte Scholl, was forgettable, which seems a heartless assertion. But, really, The Scholl Case is not much more than a newspaper article run long. It’s interesting in a mildly benign way, somewhat infuriating in that Brigitte Scholl is definitely presented more in a bitches be crazy style than her husband Heinrich, who frequents sex-workers, cheats on his wife, abandons a child born out of wedlock — so it’s hardly like he’s an upstanding gentleman either. But while Brigitte’s flaws are hammered home almost to the point of inanity, Heinrich’s get side aside with a shrug. Oh well the book seems to say Product of his upbringing. Because, clearly, Brigitte just sprung up fully formed in the GDR fully formed with no outside influences whatsoever *rolls eyes*.
So there’s no grand reveal here. No new evidence. Even Reich-Osang’s interactions with Heinrich are bland, polite letters and visits where nothing much happens. The Scholl Case is refreshingly un-lurid for a true crime book, but that makes it seem more academic than anything else, and, in a sense, a bit purposeless.
The Scholl Case by Anja Reich-Osang went on sale December 29, 2016.
I received a copy free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.