The Lethal Shore

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

Overview

In February 1942, a man gathering shellfish finds the blood-soaked coat of Harry Pond on an isolated Oregon beach. But there’s no sign of Harry, who had neither means nor reason to visit that 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 collaborators laying the groundwork for Japanese incursions of the American mainland. Others darkly imply he fell in with them. The U.S. Army captain who takes over the investigation seems more interested in protecting his defense projects than learning what happened to Harry.

Eden Pond, Harry’s twin sister, determines to find him. Childhood polio left him with a chip on his shoulder and a desperate need to prove himself—and little concern for who he provoked along the way. There’s also Harry’s best friend, Jonah Shibuya. The grandson of Japanese immigrants, he’s been in hiding for weeks, perhaps because of intensifying pressure on the government to address the “problem” of west coast Japanese. Rumors fly Jonah had a hand in Harry’s disappearance—and deeds far worse.

With the investigation going nowhere and hostility mounting toward Eden over her own fraught history with Jonah, she sets out to learn what happened to Harry Pond. In the process, she risks the wrath of Army officials, a civilian militia with grand visions of repelling invasion, and an anxious community still coming to grips with life in a nation 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