Louise's War

July 18, 2011
Set in Washington, D.C., in 1942, Shaber's auspicious first in a new suspense series introduces Louise Pearlie, a young widow from North Carolina who works as a clerk for the newly formed OSS. When Louise, to her dismay, comes across a secret document regarding the efforts of Gerald Bloch, the hydrographer husband of a college friend, Rachel, to escape the Nazi persecution of the Jews in Marseilles, she takes the file to her boss, Bob Holman. Before Holman can help, he dies in his office of a heart attack, according to the report Louise sees in the newspaper. Suspicious circumstances indicate otherwise and set Louise on track to investigate Holman's death and to try to rescue Gerald and Rachel. Shaber, the author of Shell Game (2007) and four other Simon Shaw mysteries, delivers a satisfying puzzle as well as a vivid picture of Washington during WWII.