Louise's War by Sarah Shaber

Spring, 1942 in Washington, D.C. Louise Pearlie is a supervisory file clerk in the newly created OSS, the predecessor to the CIA. She's a late 20's widow from Wilmington, NC. Her best friend from junior college, Rachael Bloch, lives in Vichy, France with her husband, an expert on ocean currents and geography, especially north Africa - ground zero for an allied invasion. And they want out in advance of the Nazi's arrival in Vichy.

Louise learns of Rachel's plight and tries to find a way to get the OSS special projects folks to sneak the family out. She quietly asks her boss about moving them up the visa list. But fat guy that he is, he dies suddenly of a heart attack and the file disappears. Louise sets out trying to find the file. Failing that, she'll try to reconstruct the file. And just maybe she'll find out who took the file and why.

So our heroine tries to get her hands on info through the DC party circuit, Director Donovan's inner circle, friends in her boarding house, a mysterious boarder from Prague she has the hots for, all the while thinking the FBI is on to her little investigation.

Sarah Shaber is a local Raleigh writer who wrote the 5 book Simon Shaw series, all reviewed here. The cover blurb says this is the first of a new series by Shaber. The same blurb used adjectives like cozy, comfortable, and charming - all very accurate. This short book could easily read over a lazy weekend. Nice story, but I think I liked the Simon Shaw series better.

East Coast Don

The Bug Funeral by Sarah Shaber

I'm sitting in limbo awaiting spring/summer releases of new books of some authors in my power rotation: Pelacanos, Brad Thor, Lee Child, David Hagberg, Stuart Woods, Michael Connelly, and Robert McCammon (fall) all have new releases coming out and I'm on the wait list at the library. In the meantime, I have to find some comfort reading to while away the time.

So, I went back to these interesting short mystery stories of Sarah Shaber. You may remember, she is a local Raleigh author who writes about her fictional Professor Simon Shaw, the small college history professor turned 'forensic historian' because of his knack for solving decades old crimes. The Bug Funeral is a bit of a departure. This time, a doctor friend asks for a favor to meet with this woman who claims to be the reincarnation of an Annie Evans who she thinks was a matron at an old Raleigh orphanage and may have a bit of a dark past...something about burying an infant. Most medical folks toss her off as a nut, but something in her tale catches his interest and reluctantly, he starts digging. He learns that there indeed was an orphanage in the early 1900's and there was a matron named Annie Evans. The real trick is finding out details of her life before, during, and after the orphanage and just how his client Helen is somehow attached to her. All details point to this really being a case of reincarnation. Simon puts the final pieces together when he manages to get into the attic of the family Annie worked for after the orphanage and finds some of Annie journaling. Turns out Annie lived at this family's lake house in the final years of her life. Years later, when Helen was very young, her family used to rent the lake house for vacations. The owner kept plenty of reading material on hand and young Helen was quite the reader. Seems she read one of Annie's old journals and many of Annie's entries ended up deep in Helen's mind that came to the surface as an adult...a condition we are told is called 'crypto-amnesia'. Maybe WC Don knows what that is. Anyway, case solved, Prof Shaw doesn't get the girl (not for a lack of trying) and this adventure comes to a close.

As I've said, these are simple, tasty little mystery stories set in my hometown; airport books, fluff reading, really good stuff to occupy reading time while waiting on more manly books. I've really gotten to like this Professor Shaw. He is a half Baptist half Jewish, short little guy from the NC mountains with a love of beer, T-birds (FIFA David - that is am American sports car) coke-cola and Goody's headache powders. I know I will come back to finish the Shaw series, maybe get another one soon as currently, only the Hagberg book is actually in the stores.

East Coast Don

p.s. the title comes from a mean activity at the orphanage. Older boys would kill a bug, put it in a box and bury it, all the while intimidatingand threatening younger kids to the point of tears so there would be some real emotion at the 'funeral.'

The Fugitive King by Sarah Shaber

This will reduce my pile of Shaber's Simon Shaw mystery stories to zero and will venture into other territories, but first...

You will recall that these tales are based at a fictitious NC college in Raleigh and Prof Simon Shaw, a historian with a knack for solving really cold cases getting the moniker of 'forensic historian'. This one opens with the escape of a murderer from the prison in Raleigh. Surprise, surprise when the escapee turns up at Prof Shaw's house. This guy has served 40y of a life sentence for a murder he says he didn't commit and asks for help in proving his innocence. says he was forced to confess. The body was never found, but a drug hunting plane spots something in the mountain forest. turns out to be a truck with the remains of the corpse in the passenger seat. 40y? why wait so long? was he protecting something or someone?

The murder in question took place near where Prof Shaw grew up, Boone, NC, the home of Appalachian State University. Summer term is over so after learning what he can in Raleigh, he heads for the mountains to stay with family and do some digging. And dig he does. aunts and uncles, Big Momma and Rocky, cousin Luther, the retired sheriff, the retired history department chairman, mixed race lovers, games of checkers (the title comes from a particular checker board setup that serious players use to get past the typical opening of the game), the dead girl's sister, hours in the university library, evidence of old Cherokee settlements, and the chance of lost long gold up there in them thar hills.

As usual, Shaber delicately and gently takes the reader through his family and environs as Prof Shaw puts seemingly unconnected bits of information together to lead him to solving the case. following the clues in this one is like wandering around a spider web. I think this lady is good. easy reading, intelligent plotting, realistic characters, genuine dialogue...I will come back. I think there are 7 Shaw novels, so I look forward to spending more time with Prof Shaw.

East Coast Don

Snipe Hunt by Sarah Shaber

I last said an extra day on the cruise would've given me time to finish the 2nd Shaber book I took, so I finished it middle of last week.

my last post was about Simon Said and Shaber's reluctant slueth, Professor Simon Shaw. Remember Shaw is a history prof at a small Raleigh NC college. This time he and a couple families and friends are at the NC outer banks for Thanksgiving on a barrier island where the Army Corps of Engineers is doing their routine dredging of the channel. Shaw's archeological buddy has a deal with them to sift through the junk that gets hauled up and in this one load, they find the remains of a body in rudimentary diving gear. The body is an island resident who became one of the Navy's first divers in WWII, thus the old gear. Attached to his belt is a bucket with about a dozen gold Confederate coins. Upon autopsy, the remains contain a knife blade and evidence of a stabbing on the ribs. Prof Shaw, still flush with notoriety from the previous case, wants nothing to do with it, but the coins make him more interested in just what happened. was the corpse looking for treasure from the Civil War, or just what was the reason for the murder? The year round residents all seem to be related, so it's likely one of this family is connected to the death. soon, evidence of another death pops up around the same time so now everyone wonders if the two are connected. Finally, the patriarch of the clan falls off the widow's walk of their house. Falls or was he pushed? is this new murder connected to the earlier killings? and how does the gold fit in? Everyone wants to know because the locals fear an onslaught of treasure hunters ruining their little corner of heaven.

I like Shaber and glad I stumbled across her books. I am reading another now. My 80yo mother in law is here this month and she read this next book in 2 days. Easy reading, interesting views of a unpretentious way of life interrupted by an old unsolved death. She presents hers tales in a lively, descriptive, and cleaver narrative. As traditional mystery writers go, she is pretty good. I said last time that it's too bad because her books might be hard to find being NC regional books. But I accessed my mother in law's local library up in Wisconsin and all Shaber's books are there, so there is hope if you are interested. 5 of her novels are in the San Diego County library system for you on the left coast.

EC Don

Simon Said by Sarah Shaber

Simon Shaw is a young history professor at the fictional Raleigh small college, Kenan College (the Kenan family is a major benefactor to NC colleges-Kenan Stadium at UNC for example). A local archeological dig on the grounds of a historical house on campus produces the body of a girl shot in the head and the cops ask Dr. Shaw for help as he is the local expert on the house and family. quickly he figures out it is the remains of a daughter missing since the early 1920s.

What happens now is that Dr. Shaw becomes quite enthralled with trying to find out what happened and who was responsible. He digs through archives, manages to find a few people still alive who knew the missing girl and slowly manages to piece together what happened. All the while is dealing with his wife walking out on him, petty jealously within the history department, angry students, an ex-NC State football player detective, the police lawyer, 2 attempts on his life, and some interesting faculty friends that I wouldn't mind having as friends.

When a book is based in your back yard, you get caught up in the accuracy of the locale as a character and this was no exception. This gentle stroll through Raleigh and Kenan summer school was, to me, thoroughly engrossing, very witty, with characters I want to revisit (already ordered two more from the library). Shaber carefully brings the reader into the small world of this accidental detective that Simon Shaw becomes, much to his own chagrin.

After doing a little digging about the author, turns out she works in a Raleigh PR company and this book won an award for Best First Traditional Mystery. Never knew there was such a thing, but this short (just over 200 page in paperback) tale was everything it was advertised. Problem is, I am sure you will never find it in your library. the local Barnes and Noble bookstore didn't even carry her books, not in the mystery section or the North Carolina writers section. Their loss. If you want a copy, probably have to hit Amazon. buy it used, could probably get it for a couple bucks.

East Coast Don