Woman in Shadow is a stand-alone Christian suspense mystery about a woman who has PTSD and lost a limb due to a violent crime incident in her past. Part of her therapy for working through her trauma involves going back out into the world and learning how to use her forensic linguist training and skills to help others again. She is sent to help a ranch resort near Yellowstone National Park figure out if someone is sabotaging their work, and why.
She uncovers some dark truths, both about the dangers at the ranch and about her own past. By shedding light on them, she's able to stop something really sinister from happening, and also able to heal emotionally and mentally from burdens she was forcing herself to carry. She also gets a friends-to-maybe-more-in-the-future side story with a local law enforcement officer who has his own troubles to get through.
I really loved how the main character's training as a forensic linguist helped her navigate the new surroundings she gets dropped into, and also helped her figure out who to trust, who was hiding things, and so on. I also really liked her character development -- there was no "instant healing," but rather a steady progression toward doing better with things, with stumbles and natural pauses.
My book club read this for our autumn book, and we all loved it!
Particularly Good Bits:
"The mountains marched into the distance like a stack of torn paper, each layer lighter than the previous one, ranging from deep viridian to soft lavender (p. 24).
If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG-16 for memories of violence, non-detailed descriptions of some pretty horrible deaths and injuries, and a lot of suspense and peril at the end. No cussing, no smut, no detailed gore.
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