THE SHILOH SISTERS: A Harrison Raines Civil War Mystery

In his fifth exciting adventure through the battlefields of the Civil War, Kilian's bumbling, myopic spy, Harrison Raines, comes to the aid of Ulysses S. Grant in the aftermath of the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862. Grant has given a pass to a federal congressman's wife, who insists on crossing into Rebel territory to meet with her twin sister. Later, as Union forces march south, both sisters turn up inside a single coffin, murdered. Grant needs this puzzle solved, and chance throws Raines, an agent working for Alan Pinkerton, into his service. Having returned from his exploits in New Mexico around the Battle of Glorieta Pass (chronicled in 2003's A Grave at Glorieta ), Raines is tracking a former lover, Louise Devereux, who may be a Confederate spy; she slipped away from him in New Orleans. With his new sidekick, a French-Canadian Indian named Jack Tantou (a great character whose presence lights up every page he appears on), Raines is drafted into a risky investigation that takes him back and forth across enemy lines. Lots of action occurs before the likable secret agent assembles all the suspects before General Grant for a classic convoluted denouement. Kilian's solid formula once again gives his readers a fun history lesson, a who-won-it with every whodunit. (Jan. 6)

Forecast: An atmospheric jacket is a big help, though Kilian's lighthearted approach to the Civil War is unlikely to win the kinds of numbers commanded by Owen Parry, author of a Civil War suspense series ( Bold Sons of Erin, etc.), which features a much deeper hero, the almost Dickensian Abel Jones.