The Ironclad Alibi

Publishers Weekly

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) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

KLIATT

This is part of a series, a complement to the Grace Monfredo Civil War mysteries KLIATT frequently reviews. Harrison Raines is from Virginia, but since he abhors slavery, he is working as a spy for the Union. His father and brothers are fighting in the Confederate Army, and he often poses as a dealer in horses, changing his story as the need arises, with papers from both Lincoln and Lee on his person, to use as the occasion requires. The actual battle that serves as the basis for this mystery is the encounter of the USS Monitor and CSS Virginia (actually The Merrimack) near Hampton Roads, Virginia. Harry's friend, the ex-slave Caesar Augustus, who is in all the books, is arrested for murder and imprisoned in Richmond, so Harry has a lot of hard work to do to find the real murderer, rescue Caesar, and report the details about the Confederate's ironclad ship to the Union. This is a painless way to get interested in crucial events in U.S. history. (A Harrison Raines Civil War mystery). KLIATT Codes: SA—Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2002, Penguin Putnam, 308p.,
— Claire Rosser

Kirkus Reviews

Dispatched by spymaster Allen Pinkerton behind Confederate lines to gather information about "the Monster"-the rumored refitting of the captured Union ship Merrimack into an ironclad warship invulnerable to enemy fire-Virginia scion Harrison Raines, arriving in Richmond just in time for President Jefferson Davis's inaugural, stumbles on a bit of luck: his former romantic rival Palmer Mills, now the husband of Harry's first love, Arabella Armstrong, is a key supplier of iron sheathing who's bound to know more about the fearsome new vessel. But Harry's unexpected reunion with Arabella goes inauspiciously when she turns up at his hotel, throws herself into his arms, and intimates a lively interest in going much further. Their second meeting is even more awkward: Harry returns from dinner with Davis and General Lee to find Arabella's naked corpse hanging from his chandelier and his servant Caesar Augustus, the boyhood companion freed from slavery who's accompanied him on his dangerous mission, about to be whisked off to jail and impending execution without trial. Putting his intelligence-gathering mission on hold, Harry dashes about in a frenzied effort to get Caesar Augustus freed, but succeeds only in provoking a duel and antagonizing most of the town's citizens before another twist of fate gives him a much closer look at the ironclad Monster than he'd planned.