Deadly Grace

October 29, 2001
Structural problems and unconvincing characterizations undermine Smith's overlong thriller (after The Innocent's Club; Random Acts; etc.), despite an intriguing premise. At the core of the novel are the disjointed notebooks and musings of young Jillian Meade; the mysterious past of Jillian's mother, Grace Meade; and the investigation by veteran homicide investigator (and rookie FBI agent) Alex Cruz. Washington-based Cruz, in his capacity as a liaison to foreign investigative services, has been asked to interview Jillian, who visited two British women shortly before they were murdered. When Cruz discovers that Jillian's mother has died in a suspicious fire in Havenwood, Minn., and that Jillian has been hospitalized there, he decides an on-site visit is indicated. British-born Grace had always been reluctant to talk about her romantic and heroic past as an undercover operative in Nazi-occupied France. It was there that she met and married an American pilot, Joe Meade, who didn't survive the war, and conceived Jillian. Now, in 1979, an adult Jillian trained as a historical researcher seeks to learn more about her mother's past. Her research reveals that Grace was not the community pillar of Havenwood she seemed, and it also sets loose murderous forces beyond Jillian's control. With Jillian hospitalized and uncooperative, and Grace dead, Cruz must try to discover if Jillian is killer or victim. His investigations, interspersed with pages from Jillian's notebook, provide a complex answer. The novel's suspenseful, somewhat surprising ending is not enough to overcome the unconvincing portrait of Grace Meade that the story depends on. National advertising.

November 15, 2001
A former international diplomat and intelligence analyst, Smith (Guilt by Silence) uses her experience to good effect in her latest thriller. This intriguing novel delves into the 1979 murder of Grace Meade, who lived quietly in Havenwood, MN, but was a member of the resistance in Nazi Germany. Grace's daughter, Jillian, is seemingly the only living link between her mother's past and her life in Havenwood. FBI Special Agent Alex Cruz, who is investigating Jillian in connection with two murders in England, arrives in Havenwood to find Jillian unresponsive in a psychiatric ward. The narrative alternates between Alex's investigation and Jillian's journal of the events leading to her hospitalization. Though danger lurks and the identity of the killers is uncertain, the true suspense is wrung from Jillian's research into her mother's past and the way that Alex is being drawn into those events. Though some sections are repetitive, the pacing of both investigations effectively echoes the protagonists' own driving needs. Recommended for all public libraries. Jane Jorgenson, Madison P.L., WI

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2001
Smith's experience as an international diplomat and intelligence analyst lends credibility to this first-rate political thriller set in January 1979. Smithsonian curator Jillian Meade is visiting her mother in Minnesota when the former World War II secret agent is murdered. FBI agent Alex Cruz, hoping to link Jillian's mother to the murder of two women in England, finds Jillian in a mental ward, too shocked to speak. As Cruz tries to uncover Jillian's secrets by talking to townspeople, she reveals them to the reader in her journal entries. Smith adroitly alternates Cruz's and Jillian's stories, chapter by chapter, building suspense steadily. The well-crafted plot leads back to the Holocaust and forward to Mossad, the covert Israeli intelligence group. An exciting and intelligent thriller.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)