Part of Isaac Bell, book 3
First published 2010
Detective Isaac Bell faces a puzzling case when a renowned battleship gun designer apparently takes his own life in 1908. The man's daughter refuses to accept suicide and hires the Van Dorn Detective Agency to prove murder. Bell uncovers evidence pointing to homicide, then watches more brilliant American inventors die under mysterious circumstances. Someone is systematically eliminating the nation's best technological minds, and all deaths trace back to a classified military program known as Hull 44. Bell discovers an international conspiracy involving German, Japanese, and British operatives working to cripple American naval power. His investigation takes him from the corridors of the Brooklyn Navy Yard to the streets of Chinatown and Hell's Kitchen. As tensions escalate toward global war, Bell must navigate a web of espionage that threatens not just individual lives but America's military future. The detective has survived dangerous missions before, but this conspiracy reaches beyond national security into the balance of world power.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, adventure, mystery, thriller, action, espionage
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Brooklyn Navy Yard, Chinatown, Hell's Kitchen
Period: 1908
436 pages · Hardcover · G.P.Putnam's Sons