July 1, 2022
Against the backdrop of World War II, four young women codebreakers put their minds together to find a serial killer. It's early 1943, and Arlington Hall, a one-time girls' school in Virginia, is now the site of a covert intelligence facility where an 18-year-old former maid secretly assumes the new identity Kit Sutherland and becomes a codebreaker. A night out turns deadly when one of their own is murdered, and Kit stumbles across her body in the bathroom. Kit, roommate Dottie, and Moya, the supervisor of their floor, work alongside Violet, one of the Black girls from the segregated codebreaking unit, to bring the culprit to justice. As the budding friends turn their sharp minds and analytical abilities to covertly investigating what turns out to be a series of murders, Kit struggles to keep her own dangerous secret--and her attraction to Moya--under wraps. Meanwhile, Moya will do everything in her power to help her girls while trying not to fall in love with Kit. The novel deftly addresses questions of inequality across class, race, and sexuality in a story that combines well-researched historical background with a nifty whodunit, a strong focus on friendship, and an empowering queer romance. The narrative follows Kit and Moya, making them the better developed characters in the largely White cast. An author's note includes many resources about the real women whose behind-the-scenes espionage work informed this story. A deftly balanced mix of history, intrigue, and romance. (Historical thriller. 14-18)
COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
September 15, 2022
Grades 9-12 Four young women working in the U.S. Signals Intelligence facility during WWII use the skills they've honed cracking codes to hunt down a serial killer in this fast-paced and fun historical mystery. Kit is a smart girl with a past that needs hiding, and being recruited as a codebreaker for the government is the best thing that's ever happened to her. After a string of fellow government girls are murdered (and the police don't seem to want to connect the crimes), Kit teams up with her sassy and loyal friend Dottie, her stylish and no-nonsense supervisor Moya, and Violet, a codebreaker who knows one of the victims, and together the girls start a thrilling but dangerous investigation of their own. Thoroughly researched, this novel organically blends historical context about young women in the war effort and the science and art of cryptography with an unsettling crime narrative. A warm and satisfying romance between Kit and Moya softens the story and adds another layer of subterfuge for a group of girls who are already guarding secrets. Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction and mysteries.
COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
October 1, 2022
Gr 9 Up-This novel is set during World War II but doesn't rely on the built-in drama of a typical wartime tale. Instead, Marney weaves thrilling drama, assumed identities, queer love, racism, and even murder against the compelling and true backdrop of American female codebreaking units. It comes together seamlessly, with every thread informing the others, a laudable feat. Protagonist Kit once worked as a maid-and perhaps more-for the real Katherine Sutherland. After Katherine, who was ill from infancy, dies at the finishing school where Kit served as her companion, the whip-smart Kit assumes her identity (as Katherine asked and encouraged her to) and stumbles into work as a codebreaker. If the threat of being exposed as a fraud during war wasn't enough, soon Kit and a gang of fascinating fellow codebreakers are sucked into solving the mystery of a serial killer terrorizing the young government-working women of Washington, D.C. While the book contains some phrases and thoughts that feel anachronistic, it overall serves as a gripping and inspiring tale. Quotes from real codebreakers and historical figures open every chapter, ensuring this brisk tale is informative while entertaining. Katherine and Kit are white. VERDICT An intersectional and enthralling story of largely unknown history mixed with engrossing crime mystery.-Cat McCarrey
Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
October 24, 2022
WWII codebreakers turn homicide detectives in this intriguing historical mystery by Marney (None Shall Sleep). In 1942, at Arlington Hall, a Washington, D.C., finishing school for wealthy girls, Kathleen Hopper is a paid companion and nurse to Katherine Sutherland. As Katherine’s health declines, however, she encourages Kathleen to take on her name following her death, hoping that Kathleen can use her status to create a new life for herself. Now in 1943, 18-year-old Kathleen—who has assumed Katherine’s identity and goes by Kit Sutherland—joins codebreakers Moya and Dottie in decrypting enemy missives for a secret U.S. Intelligence facility that has commandeered the school as a codebreaking center. When Kit finds a fellow codebreaker’s murdered body, and more young women turn up dead, the girls endeavor to catch the killer, but as they get closer to the perpetrator, Kit risks imperiling her secret life and a deeper harrowing truth. Marney utilizes captivating prose, an intriguing and complex premise, and a fiercely independent female cast to ably detail a little-known chapter of WWII history that ensnares the imagination and invites further exploration. Most characters read as white. An author’s note concludes. Ages 14–up. Agent: Josh Adams, Adams Literary.