Shadowed by Death: An Oliver Wright WW II Mystery
Shadowed by Death is Adler’s second World War II mystery featuring Lieutenant Oliver Wright. Wright is a homicide detective and a Marine, invalided out of the war with a leg injury. As both a Marine and a detective, he’s charged with investigating the attempted murder of a Jane Doe in the Presidio in 1944. In addition to that case, he’s also tasked with protecting Sophia Nirenska, a Polish resistance worker intent on exposing the Russian massacre of Poles in the Katyn forest. Throughout the book there are several attempts on her life.
Animals figure heavily into the plot. Wright’s constant companion is his German shepherd, Harley, who was in Guam with him. A young girl named Rosie has an affinity for them as well, rescuing a dog named Blue from the husband of her missing friend. The villains are telegraphed by the way they treat these animals.
Adler has written a melancholy, atmospheric mystery with a number of threads. Some could have been unraveled earlier had characters just talked to each other, so I grew a bit impatient. Wright and supporting characters are well-drawn, touched by war, trying not to be consumed by it. I look forward to the next in the series.
