Midnight on the Scottish Shore

Sundin (Embers in the London Sky) delivers a pulse-pounding tale of divided loyalties during WWII. Cilla van der Zee is a member of the Dutch resistance who infiltrates the local Nazi Party to gather intel, but as conditions grow increasingly violent, she decides to escape the country. Agreeing to serve as a Nazi spy in the U.K.—but planning to change her name and disappear once she arrives in England—she boards a U-boat headed across the North Sea. Things go awry, however, and she winds up rowing a fishing boat to the Scottish shore, where Navy lieutenant Lachlan Mackenzie brings her to the police and she’s recruited to be a double agent. Cilla and Lachlan start working together, and his initial distrust turns into curiosity and then attraction as the pair bond over their faith. But when Cilla’s Nazi contacts begin to suspect that she’s hiding something and orchestrate a plan to bring her to Germany, she and her Scottish allies must find a way to protect her. Some readers may be distracted by the occasional cliché (Cilla’s “liveliness and cleverness invigorated [Lachlan] more than the sea air”), but Sundin’s tight plotting and snappy dialogue keeps the suspense high as the plot builds to its satisfying conclusion. It’s captivating stuff. (Feb.)