"The Shadowed Mind" by Julie Cave — Book Review

No perks or benefits for me on this review, I purchased and read it on my own. This will not be an in-depth analysis because I don't want to ruin the story for you.

The Shadowed Mind by Julie Cave is the second book in the Dinah Harris mystery trilogy. Although the reader can probably read it as a stand-alone story, I recommend reading Deadly Disclosures first to get the background on the characters. Some characters from the first book reappear briefly, and one character that appeared briefly in the first book is important in this one. Some sequels are formulaic and simply rework the original story. This is far from that.

This is an unashamedly Christian novel, but it is not like so many other books that are "get saved and everything is peachy keen". Dinah Harris is struggling in her new Christian life and overcoming alcoholism. Her idiosyncrasies and personality are very believable. In fact, some of the advice she received from a friend were applicable not only to her, but to other people — including me.

The plot centers on the concept of eugenics, which is one of the fruits of evolutionary thinking. This pseudoscience promotes survival of the fittest, and only the fit are permitted to reproduce. Deciding who is "fit" is determined by others, and is not only utilitarian, but subjective. We are given some history of eugenics and forced sterilizations, and how it fell out of favor in the United States after the atrocities of Nazism. Unfortunately, eugenics is having a bit of a resurgence. (For an in-depth article on the history eugenics, click here.)

Someone has decided to take it upon himself to decide who needs to be eliminated. Does the local eugenics chapter have anything to do with this? Do they approve of murder?

There is a second story that converges on the main plot to some extent, but the main characters are not heavily involved. This story involves redemption and forgiveness — and hidden secrets that come to light.

Aside from solving the mystery of a serial killer, Dinah Harris and her associates research the history of eugenics (Julie Cave did some serious research on this book as well as the last one), and the material is presented in a biblical creationist framework. I recommend this book. It is available at several retailers as softcover or e-book, including Answers In Genesis.