The Lethal Shore

The Lethal Shore (working title) is the possible first book in the Eden Pond Series.

Overview

In February 1942, a blood-soaked coat belonging to Harry Pond is discovered on an isolated beach in Tillamook County, Oregon. Harry can’t be found, and had no reason or means to go that particular beach—the location of a secret army defense project. With war nerves wound tight in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, some locals think he fell prey to, if not fell in with, collaborators helping lay the groundwork for Japanese incursions of the American mainland. The U.S. Army captain who takes charge of the investigation from local authorities seems more interested in protecting his defense projects than learning what happened to Harry.

But Eden Pond, Harry’s twin sister, is determined to find him. Childhood polio left him with a chip on his shoulder and a desperate need to prove himself—no matter who he crossed doing it. There’s also Harry’s best friend, Jonah Shibuya, the grandson of Japanese immigrants who himself disappeared a couple of weeks before Harry’s death, perhaps because of intensifying pressure on the government to address the “problem” of west coast Japanese. Rumors fly that Jonah is responsible for Harry’s disappearance—and acts far worse.

With the investigation going nowhere and hostility mounting toward Eden over his own history with Jonah, she sets out to learn what really happened to Harry Pond, risking the wrath of Army officials, a newly-formed civilian militia with grand visions of repelling invasion, and an anxious community still coming to grips with life in a nation newly at war.

Chronology
The events of the novel take place in February and March 1942, with the denouement in May. The Lethal Shore is followed by Murder at the Shipyard.

Characters

Points of Interest