The Traitor Beside Her: A Novel

(Paperback)

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For readers of The Alice Network and Code Name Helene comes the story of a young woman who spends every day locked in a room of people working on the most sensitive secrets of WWII-but can she catch the liar among them before it's too late 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.

Reviews

"The Traitor Beside Her is a well-researched wartime spy story which blends suspense with sharp characterization as Justine Byrne turns code-breaker in the hunt for a ruthless enemy agent." -- Martin Edwards, author of the Rachel Savernake and Lake District mysteries
"Mary Anna Evans' great talent in The Traitor Beside Her is to turn her readers into espionage agents....For Justine Byrne, missing or mis-interpreting a clue can be fatal. For the reader, such vicarious mystery and danger are pure enjoyment." -- Larry Baker, author of Harry and Sue
"World War II and espionage novels are popular, and [Mary Anna Evans] brings both together in a story of young women undercover on the home front." -- Library Journal

Author Bio

MARY ANNA EVANS is the author of the Faye Longchamp archaeological mysteries, which have received recognition including the Benjamin Franklin Award, the Mississippi Author Award, and three Florida Book Awards bronze medals. She is an assistant professor at the University of Oklahoma, where she teaches fiction and nonfiction writing. Winner of the 2018 Sisters in Crime (SinC) Academic Research Grant.