12 Sep Book Review The Traitor Beside Her Mary Anna Evans #HistoricalFiction #HistoricalMystery #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub @maryannaevans @cathiedunn

FEATURED AUTHOR: MARY ANNA EVANS

It is my pleasure to introduce Mary Anna Evans as the featured author in The Coffee Pot Book Club Blog Tour that is being held between August 2nd — October 4th, 2023. Mary Anna Evans is the author of the Historical Mystery novel, The Traitor Beside Her (The Justine Byrne Historical Mysteries), released by Sourcebooks on June 6, 2023 (346 pages).

Below are highlights of The Traitor Beside Her,  Mary Anna Evans’ author bio, and my review of her novel. 

Tour Schedule Page: https://thecoffeepotbookclub.blogspot.com/2023/06/blog-tour-traitor-beside-her.html

HIGHLIGHTS: THE TRAITOR BESIDE HER

The Traitor Beside Her
(The Justine Byrne Historical Mysteries)
By Mary Anna Evans
Audiobook narrated by Kimberly M. Wetherell

Blurb:

“Evans’s characters are vividly drawn, elevating this story and its revelations about women’s little-celebrated contributions to the war effort.”— Washington Post

“An exciting read with historical tidbits, a hint of danger, and a touch of romance.”— Kirkus Reviews

The Traitor Beside Her is an intricately plotted WWII espionage novel weaving together mystery, action, friendship, and a hint of romance perfect for fans of The Rose Code and Code Name Helene.

Justine Byrne can’t trust the people working beside her. Arlington Hall, a former women’s college in Virginia has been taken over by the United States Army where hundreds of men and women work to decode countless pieces of communication coming from the Axis powers.

Justine works among them, handling the most sensitive secrets of World War II—but she isn’t there to decipher German codes—she’s there to find a traitor.

Justine keeps her guard up and her ears open, confiding only in her best friend, Georgette, a fluent speaker of Choctaw who is training to work as a code talker. Justine tries to befriend each suspect, believing that the key to finding the spy lies not in cryptography but in understanding how code breakers tick. When young women begin to go missing at Arlington Hall, her deadline for unraveling the web of secrets becomes urgent and one thing remains clear: a single secret in enemy hands could end thousands of lives.

“A fascinating and intelligent WWII home front story.” —Rhys Bowen, New York Times bestselling author for The Physicists’ Daughter

Buy Links:

Universal Link: https://books2read.com/u/4XwxG1

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Traitor-Beside-Her-Novel/dp/1464215588

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BGYPLMTH

Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/Traitor-Beside-Her-Novel/dp/1464215588

Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/Traitor-Beside-Her-Novel-ebook/dp/B0BGYPLMTH

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-traitor-beside-her-mary-anna-evans/1143344440

Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-traitor-beside-her/mary-anna-evans/9781464215582

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-traitor-beside-her

Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-traitor-beside-her-mary-anna-evans/18743820

Audio Buy Links:

Audiobooks.com: https://www.audiobooks.com/audiobook/672506/

Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Traitor-Beside-Her-Audiobook/B0BVDLCL7J

AUTHOR BIO: MARY ANNA EVANS

Mary Anna Evans is an award-winning author, a writing professor, and she holds degrees in physics and engineering, a background that, as it turns out, is ideal for writing her Justine Byrne series, which began with The Physicists’ Daughter and continues with her new book, The Traitor Beside Her. She describes Justine as “a little bit Rosie-the-Riveter and a little bit Bletchley Park codebreaker.”

Mary Anna’s crime fiction has earned recognition that includes two Oklahoma Book Awards, the Will Rogers Medallion Awards Gold Medal, and the Benjamin Franklin Award, and she co-edited the Edgar-nominated Bloomsbury Handbook to Agatha Christie.

Social Media Links:

Website: https://www.maryannaevans.comTwitter: https://twitter.com/maryannaevans

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MaryAnnaEvansAuthor/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-anna-evans-a7642810/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maryannaevans/

Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/mary-anna-evans

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Mary-Anna-Evans/author/B001JP9ZY2

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/12395.Mary_Anna_Evans

BOOK REVIEW: THE TRAITOR BESIDE HER

The USA’s secret program of cryptoanalysis in Virginia toward the end of WWII is explored in The Traitor Beside Her by Mary Anna Evans. A physicist’s daughter, Justine Byrne plays a dangerous game of espionage. On the surface, she has been recruited to decode communication from various Axis powers as Allied forces advance on the front lines toward Germany.  However, her primary objective is to find the traitor among the brilliant decoders at Arlington Hall who are deciphering German codes that could steer the course of the war. She cannot trust anyone as she investigates who could be the potential spy. One woman on site has already been killed and others have gone missing. The suspense builds as she hones on potential suspects, risking her life.

Mary Anna Evans has written a unique, smoothly-written novel with elements of suspense, romance, and friendship. The story offers the unique perspective of a young, somewhat naive woman thrust into the midst of espionage with minimal training. The story is told primarily from Justine’s perspective, but other points of view are used to move the story forward. Justine can only confide in Georgette, her best friend and fluent speaker of Choctaw, who is suddenly brought into the mission. Nora is another intriguing, eccentric character who can see the colors of the music she composes and plays.

One of the most fascinating aspects of the novel is to learn about the secret decoding processes that could impact the war as much as the military forces on the battlefield. Each suspect has an interesting backstory that could explain why he or she chooses to betray his/her country. However, the pacing sometimes slows down when the story delves into romance and everyday conversations of women living at Arlington Hall.

Readers who enjoy learning more about covert operations that supported the behind-the-scenes war effort of Allies during WWII should enjoy reading The Traitor Beside Her, told from the perspective of a precocious, young woman thrown into the jaws of espionage.

Instagram Handle: @thecoffeepotbookclub