Having lost her career as an FBI agent but gained her sobriety, Dinah Harris is ready to begin her new career: as a private consultant. With the a shady senator keeping his eye on her while she tracks a serial killer, Dinah is challenged to stop the man killing society's most undesirables - before his aim settles on her.

Peace does not yet reign supreme in Dinah's mind. Although she desperately wants the new life she has found in Jesus, she isn't sure yet how to make that happen. Staying sober continues to be a struggle even as she hates the part of her that craves alcohol, and thus makes her a target for the eugenics killer.

Eugenics, defined by www.dictionary.com as the practice of improving the human race by discouraging the reproduction of people with defects, is a main theme of this book. The history of eugenics in America - yes, America! - plays a large role in solving this case. Like in Deadly Disclosures, the information is passed to the reader from experts consulted throughout the investigation. Because the information trickled through the suspects as new evidence was revealed, it flowed naturally.

Dinah Harris is one of my new favorite characters. Her enthusiastic desire to create a new life for herself is inspiring, and she tackles each mystery with bulldog tenacity. If I needed her superior investigative skills, I'd want her on the case.

The Shadowed Mind is a realistic suspense with a clear view of how easily we humans can lose sight of kindness and good will when we take our minds off of the One who created them. A cut above your ordinary mystery, this book is not merely 200 pages of mysterious fluff but the well-crafted work of an educated, inspirational author.

I received a free copy of The Shadowed Mind from Julie Cave in exchange for an honest review. The opinions are my own.

At the close of Deadly Disclosures (book 1 in the Dinah Harris mystery series), Dinah Harris and her former partner Ferguson had just solved the Thomas Whitfield abduction case. Next up on Dinah's calendar was beginning a rehabilitation program to aid her in combatting her struggles with alcoholism. The Shadowed Mind (book 2 in the Dinah Harris mystery series) picks up Dinah's story about 6 months later. The now former FBI agent has completed her time in rehabilitation and is back home, trying to build a new life as a freelance criminal profiler and investigator. In many ways, you could say Dinah's life is better than it was before rehab, but that's not to say it is easy. Each day is a struggle as she continues to come to terms with the painful reality that her husband (Luke) and son (Sammy) are gone forever. The temptation of alcohol still lingers in her mind each day, but she is finding the strength she needs to resist giving in to that temptation through her growing faith in Jesus Christ and the support of the Christian mentor who was assigned to her through the rehabilitation center's outpatient recovery program.

Dinah's work as a profiler was an important part of her life when she worked for the FBI and she is eager to put her skills to work again in the private sector. Her first consulting opportunity comes from Detective Samson Cage, who she had crossed paths with during the Whitfield investigation. Detective Cage is investigating the murder of a seventeen year old street kid named Lakeisha Tennant. While it wasn't unusual for violence and the occasional homicide in that part of Washington D.C., there was a unique piece of evidence found on the victim that convinced Detective Cage to engage services of an expert profiler like Dinah. Tucked in to one of Lakeisha's boots was a blank sympathy card with an old photo attached. It really wasn't all that much to go on, but it was a start.

Seemingly unrelated, in a different part of town, Ella Barnett is at home caring for her aging father John Barnett. John was formerly president of a large bank, but that was some years ago. John is now suffering from the later stages of Alzheimer's and his mind has retreated to a time long before Ella was born. It is becoming increasingly difficult for Ella to care for her father. She no longer feels safe taking him out in public as he often rambles on and on about searching for two boys named Peter and Henry. His need to find these two boys is a bit confounding to Ella, but it is downright scary to the people they encounter in public.

One final character I need to mention that first appeared in Deadly Disclosures is presidential hopeful, Senator David Winters. Senator Winters will do whatever it takes to further his political aspirations. With the way things ended following the Whitfield investigation, Winters is Dinah's sworn enemy and would like nothing more than to see her disappear forever. I won't give away any more of Senator Winters part in this story, but I have a sneaking suspicion he will show up again in Pieces of Light (book 3 in the Dinah Harris Mystery Series).

As the book progresses, these three disparate story lines will come together touching on the themes of eugenics and euthanasia, helping readers to come to terms with the question of whether or not there is intrinsic value in all human life, no matter how fragile or frail. In the midst of all this, readers will also be able to come alongside Dinah as she continues on her own journey of healing and faith, where she finally comes to terms with her catastrophic loss and the healing and restoration she continues to experience through her relationship with Jesus Christ.

I enthusiastically recommend The Shadowed Mind. It is a masterfully written tale that not only keeps you on the edge of your seat, but also challenges you to seriously consider many of the important faith and worldview issues we face in our world today. While I am always a bit nervous about the quality of follow up books in any series, this book is written with the same quality and passion we saw from Julie Cave in Deadly Disclosures. With the first and second books in the Dinah Harris mystery series under my belt, I can't wait to start reading Pieces of Light!

Author Information:

Julie Cave credits her parents for introducing her to books at a young age, which fostered an enduring passion for reading and writing. As a child, her favorite authors were Enid Blyton and C.S. Lewis and it wasn't long before she began copying them, writing short stories for anyone who would read them. At fifteen, two things happened which would shape her future: she heard a creation science speaker at her church which cemented her faith in God; and she finished her second novel-length story and realized she had fallen in love with writing novels. After school, she completed a health science degree, got married, and worked in banking and finance. All the while she wondered how she could combine her love of writing and her strong passion for Christian apologetics and evangelism. One weekend at a church camp, a friend asked, `What if the guy in charge of the Smithsonian Institution went missing?' The result - and the answer to that question - is Julie's maiden published novel, Deadly Disclosures. Since then, Julie has written and released the other two books in this trilogy, The Shadowed Mind and Pieces of Light. Julie has two daughters and lives in Brisbane, Australia with her family. She divides her time between being a wife, a mother and an author.

Disclaimer:

This book was provided by Master Books for review. The reviewer was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.

Excellent book. Well written with great suspence. I loved the first book of this series and can't wait for the third book to come out. It's so nice to find good Christian mystery writers. Thanks!

Wow! Another great book by Julie Cave! The Shadowed Mind is the second book in the Dinah Harris series. Dinah is still struggling with living out her newfound faith and staying sober when she is recruited as a consultant for the police department on a new case. Will she be able to juggle the demands of work and stay sober?

Julie does a great job of continuing to develop the characters she introduced in the first novel in the series. The characters are much more deep than those in many fiction books. I appreciated that Dinah is not the perfect character. She still struggles and fails and messes up and has to deal with guilt, shame, and the weight of her sin. She reminds me a lot of me ... with a different set of problems. I loved her new partner as well. He had his own set of problems, and I loved the interaction between them.

The ethical discussion in this book centered around euthanasia, assisted suicide, and true equality of all humans. The author talked a lot about eugenics, which I had never heard of before, but was really interesting to learn about. I didn't feel like this book was as "preachy" as the last one, but I did learn a lot about the topic.

I would definitely recommend this series and am looking forward to the third book which will be released this summer!

I received a free copy of this book from New Leaf Publishers in exchange for my fair and honest review.

"The Shadowed Mind" is a well-written, fast-paced detective suspense novel. It's the second novel in the trilogy, but you don't need to have read the first novel ("Deadly Disclosures") to follow what's happening in this one. However, the "whodunit" in the previous novel is revealed in this one, so I'd recommend reading them in order if both sound interesting to you.

The suspense came from trying to stop the killer before he killed again, personal danger to the main characters, and Dinah's struggle with alcoholism. A subplot with some secondary characters also created suspense by the stresses the daughter (Ella) underwent in dealing with her father's Alzheimer's Disease and her anger after learning a horrible secret about his past.

The characters were interesting, complex, and had realistic struggles. Dinah struggled with staying sober during a stressful case and with her quick temper.

The details about the police work, setting, and historical information relating to the case where excellent and interesting yet didn't slow the story down. These details brought the story alive in my imagination.

I don't think most people will figure out who the killer is before Dinah does, but it is possible to do so. Overall, I thought this was a more polished novel than the first one, but I still noticed some inaccurate, conflicting, or odd minor details. Like why did Cage and Dinah (who's on the case as a profile consultant) ignore that the profile she made of the killer didn't match their favorite suspect?

Dinah and several minor characters were Christians. Dinah and Ella struggled realistically with forgiveness and grace in their difficult circumstances and talked with other Christians about this struggle. Also, Dinah consulted a Christian about the Christian viewpoint of eugenics, but she also consulted a secular source and heard the views of several pro-eugenics characters. I felt the pro-eugenics characters were handled realistically.

There was no sex and no bad language. I'd highly recommend this well-written, suspenseful novel.

I received this book as a review copy from the publisher.