Beneath a Silent Moon
By Tracy Grant 

     In her earlier mystery, Daughter of the Game, Tracy Grant wove detailed history and well-plotted suspense with a bit of romance as she introduced Charles and Melaine Fraser. The novel was well received by both mystery and romance readers, which is rare. Beneath a Silent Moon has the same exceptional historical elements blended into its suspense-driven plot. There are two strong points in this novel: the in-depth look at Charles and Melaine's marriage and cloak-and-dagger post-war intrigue.

The Fraser marriage is one of convenience. Melaine knows she has Charles's name and after four and half years of living dangerously, she knows she has his loyalty, but does she have his heart, his soul?

     When growing up with Charles, Honoria believed she had his heart, his loyalty. She also believed she would one day have his name and now she will -- once she marries his father. The shock of this announcement has Charles taking a closer look at life with his foreign bride. It also has Charles questioning the sanity of his father and reliving the desire to have a familiar, accepted, and connected life with another.

     The hypothetical "what ifs" and "maybes' are pushed to the back fairly quickly in the storyline when an old war contact is murdered. Soon, Charles and Melaine are chasing down the contact's girlfriend to protect her. Everything becomes so serious that the Foreign Secretary summons Charles to his office and gives him top secret information. Charles learns there is a new post-war group driven by unforgiveness, and the one name spoken in reference to them - more than once -- is someone near and dear to him. The impending marriage and the mystery leads everyone to Scotland. A mysterious rendezvous, hidden secrets and dangerous escapades lead to murder and shocking revelations.

     Grant is a remarkable story teller. In this series, she meets the needs of various readers at once: the intellect, the history buff, the romantic and the sleuth. Beneath a Silent Moon is one of those rare novels that give us our money's worth. I can't help but recommended it.