Shadowed by Death

4/5 ( ratings)

San Francisco, 1944. Oliver Wright, a homicide detective on medical leave from the Marines, is investigating an attempted murder at the Presidio when the Army asks him to guard Sophia Nirenska, a Polish resistance fighter who survived the Warsaw Ghetto uprising in Poland and is touring America to raise money for children hidden from the Nazis in Europe.

Neither is happy with the assignment, but after a car deliberately hits Sophia, they reluctantly agree that he should travel with her to Petaluma where she hopes to enlist the help of eastern European chicken farmers. She insists political enemies want to silence her, but Oliver believes the motive is more personal and connected to the woman found in the Presidio. He and his German shepherd, Harley, try to protect Sophia, but she insists on doing things her own way—a dangerous decision that puts them both in mortal danger.

Oliver finds the key at the heart of the threat to Sophia, a secret with its roots in Poland. When he does, he is forced to choose between enforcing the law as he knows it—and jeopardizing Sophia—or accepting a rougher kind of justice.

While this fast-paced mystery illuminates the fears and troubles WWII inflicts on many groups of people, it is also a story full of love, kindness, and a celebration of the gift of finding family among strangers. It will appeal to readers interested in northern California, World War II, the destructiveness of totalitarianism, the bond between people and dogs, and communities that celebrate food and friendship.