Quaker Indictment

by Irene Allen

Book Overview

At the urging of an old friend, devout Quaker Elizabeth Elliot travels far from her peaceful New England home to visit a town simmering with the deadly fallout of a government cover-up. Reba Nichols,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312966849
• ISBN13: 9780312966843
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 4.3" x 7.0"

Customer Reviews

Elizabeth travels to the Northwest

Elizabeth Elliot leaves the comfort zone of her home in Cambridge, Massachusetts to travel to Seattle to visit her college roommate, Reba Nichols. While she is there Reba asks Elizabeth to accompany her to her parents' old home which is near an area where plutonium was once produced. Reba wishes to sell her parents' former home but she wants to make sure that she is not selling land that has been contaminated by radioactive material. The two women travel to the area in question and Reba attempts to get soil samples which can be analyzed so that she can be sure the land is safe to sell. Soon the women are involved in a cat-and-mouse game with federal officials and Elizabeth is shocked at the lengths the government will go to in order to protect its secrets. I disagree with many of the other reviewers who feel that this is a 1-star book. I found it to be an interesting story and I learned a lot about government subterfuge during the Cold War. Elizabeth did seem uncomfortable being far away from her home and her spiritual friends but that is often the case with people whose religion is an important part of their lives.

Tightly plotted "cozy" with spiritual depth

Too often, a "Christian" mystery isn't Christian at all. It may include a clergyman sleuth or a church setting, but the Christian faith has no bearing on anyone's conduct. Happily, that is not true of Irene Allen's QUAKER INDICTMENT. Her heroine is Elizabeth Elliot, clerk of the Quaker Meeting in Cambridge, MA. She doesn't so much solve mysteries as participate in them, usually because of her religious beliefs. In this one, she joins her old college roommate in investigating radioactive contamination around Hanford, Washington. This is a real nuclear facility with a documented history of deceiving the public over nuclear emissions. When Elizabeth's friend is murdered, Elizabeth relies as much on prayer as deduction to uncover the killer. Allen's plots are tight with at least one satisfying twist. Her secondary characters are vivid and present varying responses to committed Christianity. Her style can be a little stiff, perhaps reflecting the age and arthritis of her heroine. I enjoy Allen's work as much for the moral questions she raises as the puzzles she presents. I think you will too. There are 3 other titles in the series, equally satisfying. We may never face murder, but this Christian "detective" can teach us how to apply our faith in situations of stress and fear. Not bad for "light" reading!Kathleen T. Choi HAWAII CATHOLIC HERALD