City of Shadows

Author: Ariana Franklin

Age: Adult

Esther Solomonova just wants to start over. She's a Russian Jew who's survived two pogroms (as evidenced by the scar on her face) and now she's managed to make her way to 1920's Berlin, a city full of people wanting to start over and make new identities for themselves. She finds a job working for Prince Nick, another Russian who pretends to be a member of the overthrown aristocracy, but who's really just an opportunistic and conniving businessman. He owns a chain of nightclubs which cater to other Russian ex-pats, complete with enormous stuffed bears to add a sense of home. A steady income is hard to come by these days, especially for a Jewish woman, so she's willing to put up with some of Nick's more outrageous money-making schemes. Like Anna, this woman whom he's found in an insane asylum and whom he wants to present as the missing Grand Duchess Anastasia...even though she doesn't speak a word of Russian.

Esther gets stuck living with and looking after Anna as they groom her to pose as Anastasia. It's not an easy task, as Anna is high strung and demanding...and to make things even more complicated, Anna claims that someone is trying to kill her. Sure, Anna is delusional, but people around her keep dying, and Esther starts to wonder if someone really is after her. Soon Esther finds an ally in homicide detective Siegfried Schmidt, who becomes even more drawn to the case after someone close to him is murdered, too.

As the situation in Germany deteriorates, and as Esther and Schmidt become more convinced that the killer is hiding within the ranks of the rising Nazi party, it becomes a race against the clock. If they can figure out who Anna really is, they can determine why someone wants her dead...and then they can find the killer--unless he finds them first.

In addition to being a well-written and enthralling murder mystery, this is one of those books that really makes you grateful for what you have. Franklin brings the setting to life, and 1920's Germany during hyperinflation is a terrifying place, where the danger of starving or freezing to death is very real. Sometimes when you study the dates and the facts in a history book, you can feel distanced from them, and you can forget that the horrifying events happened to real people, people like you who were just trying to make an honest living, look after the people they loved, and feed their families. A book like this brings it all vividly to life, making me remember why I love studying history.



Recommended for readers who like: all those CSI-type mystery shows; 19th century European history; the myths surrounding Anastasia and Anna Anderson