Sabotage in the Secret City

May 7, 2018
Early in Fanning’s enjoyable third Libby Clark mystery (after 2016’s Treason in the Secret City), Libby, a scientist working on the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge, Tenn., learns that President Roosevelt has died. Speculation on his successor, Harry Truman, an unknown entity to Libby, provides a diversion from her often mundane chores in the lab, but she soon has a more immediate concern to worry about. When a series of childish but destructive pranks starts plaguing Oak Ridge, Lieutenant Colonel Crenshaw, the commander in charge, focuses his investigation on Libby’s team. After the pranks turn deadly, Libby and her colleagues must act fast to uncover the truth. But whom can she really trust? Oak Ridge offers rich terrain for examining the difficulties facing women in the 1940s, and Libby, a refreshingly independent and astute sleuth, does her best to deal with the sexism she faces almost daily. Readers will look forward to her next outing. Agent: Jane Dystel, Dystel & Goderich.

May 15, 2018
Libby Clark (Treason in the Secret City, 2016, etc.) continues her crusade against sexism at the Oak Ridge nuclear research facility in 1945.As the only woman in her lab in Y-12, Libby is used to sticking up for herself. But when a series of pranks threatens the work of the scientists who are busy "processing product for the gadget," as they coyly refer to the frightening new weapon they're developing for the U.S. military, she finds herself in a bind. Lt. Col. Crenshaw is sure Libby knows who's behind the increasingly serious incidents. Libby is indeed convinced the answer lies in either Y-12 or neighboring Alpha Lab but doesn't want to implicate any of her co-workers, especially those who meet each Wednesday at Joe's under the code name "Walking Molecules" to support each other and voice their concerns about the endgame of their secret research. Crenshaw leans in, Libby pushes back. In the meantime, Tom O'Malley, one of the Molecules, leaves for his father's funeral and never returns. And although her best friend, Ruth Nance, suddenly shows up at Oak Ridge after a brief exile to resume her clerical job, restoring the numerical balance in her world doesn't help Libby much with Crenshaw. Neither does Fanning's flat-footed prose, which reduces pretty much everyone to the least common denominator.Even in the labs, everyone's a generic "scientist." No biology, no physics, and precious little chemistry.

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June 1, 2018
The third Libby Clark mystery (following Treason in the Secret City, 2016) finds Clark, a scientist at the Manhattan Project's top-secret installation in Oak Ridge, Tennessee?the secret city of the title?looking into several instances of apparent sabotage. Someone seems determined to shut down the project and stop the Americans from dropping nuclear bombs on Japan, and when sabotage leads to murder, Libby realizes she has to hurry if she's going to stop the perpetrators. Libby Clark is a good series lead: tough, resourceful, and smart. Fans of other WWII-set mysteries with strong female leads, such as Sarah R. Shaber's Louise Pearlie series, should definitely check this one out.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)