A review by appalonia
A Trace of Smoke by Rebecca Cantrell
2.0
Set in 1931 Berlin, this story follows newspaper journalist Hannah Vogel after she finds out her brother has been murdered. Hannah decides she can’t approach the police to investigate, since she had recently loaned her identity papers to a friend who wanted to immigrate to America (a fairly transparent plot device.) The plot was a little confusing at times, simply because there is a whole lot going on. It also bothers me that Hannah didn’t bother searching Ernst’s apartment for clues to his murder. She obviously had access, and that would be the first place I’d look. I also had some problems with the resolution to the mystery (see spoilers below). All in all a good historical mystery, but one too convoluted to thoroughly enjoy. I probably won’t read subsequent books in the series.
WARNING: This next section of the review contains spoilers for the end of the story.
The reason for Ernst mailing Hannah the love letters from the Nazi officer never made sense to me. The act insinuated that he was feeling threatened by the man, but that never panned out. Also, although I’m sure people will disagree, I felt uncomfortable with the fact that Hannah felt entitled to steal a child that she knew wasn’t hers. I understand the motivation, but I think that story thread could have been resolved a bit better without outright kidnapping.
WARNING: This next section of the review contains spoilers for the end of the story.
The reason for Ernst mailing Hannah the love letters from the Nazi officer never made sense to me. The act insinuated that he was feeling threatened by the man, but that never panned out. Also, although I’m sure people will disagree, I felt uncomfortable with the fact that Hannah felt entitled to steal a child that she knew wasn’t hers. I understand the motivation, but I think that story thread could have been resolved a bit better without outright kidnapping.