Who done it? The Monitor
or the Merrimac
(aka Virginia)? Kilian's third Civil War noir (after 2001's A Killing at Ball's Bluff) is a combination espionage and private-eye mystery, which succeeds delightfully on both counts with its vivid historical background, well-realized characters and engrossing plot. The author's portrait of wartime Richmond is especially good. Series hero Harrison Raines, a son of the Old South with radical ideas such as abolition, has fled to the North to fight for the Union. Now he returns to Richmond to learn what he can about "the Monster" that has all Washington in jitters. An ironclad ship! Said to be invincible. With it, the South could smash the Union blockade, possibly even sail up the Potomac and attack Washington itself. While snooping, Harry meets a lady friend of whom he was once very fond. When she's later found naked, hanged in his room, Harry's friend Caesar Augustus, formerly his slave and now his associate in the spy business, is arrested for the murder. Only through the intervention of Robert E. Lee is Harry given one week to discover the real murderer. For a time, it seems as if Harry (and the author) have forgotten all about the Monster; but, no, the trail of the killer leads Harry right into the very heart of the beast as it sets out to destroy the Union fleet. A colorful and exciting climax caps a book that entertains from start to finish. Highly recommended for mystery and Civil War buffs alike. (Jan. 8)
