The Killing Code

WWII codebreakers turn homicide detectives in this intriguing historical mystery by Marney (None Shall Sleep). In 1942, at Arlington Hall, a Washington, D.C., finishing school for wealthy girls, Kathleen Hopper is a paid companion and nurse to Katherine Sutherland. As Katherine’s health declines, however, she encourages Kathleen to take on her name following her death, hoping that Kathleen can use her status to create a new life for herself. Now in 1943, 18-year-old Kathleen—who has assumed Katherine’s identity and goes by Kit Sutherland—joins codebreakers Moya and Dottie in decrypting enemy missives for a secret U.S. Intelligence facility that has commandeered the school as a codebreaking center. When Kit finds a fellow codebreaker’s murdered body, and more young women turn up dead, the girls endeavor to catch the killer, but as they get closer to the perpetrator, Kit risks imperiling her secret life and a deeper harrowing truth. Marney utilizes captivating prose, an intriguing and complex premise, and a fiercely independent female cast to ably detail a little-known chapter of WWII history that ensnares the imagination and invites further exploration. Most characters read as white. An author’s note concludes. Ages 14–up. Agent: Josh Adams, Adams Literary. (Sept.)