A NORTH-EAST medic has published his second novel, exploring the horrors of Nazi eugenics.

Quentin Smith, a consultant anaesthetist at Sunderland Royal Hospital, set Huber’s Tattoo in London in 2011.

Several loosely connected murders are gradually traced back to the Third Reich’s attempts to produce a master race.

DCI Webber of Scotland Yard begins to uncover his own links to Himmler’s Lebensborn birthing project and the murders themselves are closer than he could have imagined.

Mr Smith, who lives in Durham City, said: “I have always been in awe of the history of the Second World War because it still feels very alive around us.”

But he added: “It’s well recognised that we’re very fortunate to know the little that we do about the Nazis’ Lebensborn birthing programme.

“In 1944 the retreating Germans hastily disbanded all operations and destroyed virtually every record. Only a few clandestine photographs and a handful of documents survived.

“But the tens of thousands of children who were bred in these homes over a ten year period had to be re-integrated into society after the war.

“It was not easy. They were ostracised, institutionalised, distrusted, maltreated.”

The medic continued: “It chills your blood to read about what went on in the name of scientific and medical advancement, perpetrated by scientists and doctors.”

Mr Smith’s first novel, 2012’s The Secret Anatomy of Candles, was a medico-legal mystery drama.

He is already working on his next book.

Huber’s Tattoo is available now, published by Matador and priced £9.99.

Mr Smith will sign copies at Waterstones, Durham, on Saturday, March 22, at noon. For more information, visit quentinsmithbooks.com