SHADOW OF THE CROWN, by Jeri Gilchrist

Santa brought me an e-tablet for Christmas. What does this mean? It means that I’ll be reviewing e-books occasionally. I’ve already read three.

Shadow of the Crown, by Jeri Gilchrist, is what my writer friends lovingly refer to as Mo-Ro. It’s a Mormon-romantic/suspense novel published by Covenant Communications and, I assume, is also in print. I sought this book out because the story is set in Denmark. The main character, Teira Palmer, goes there on business. Her mother is from Denmark and immigrated to America after WWII.

It was a fun story for me because I had been to some of the places she mentions in the book. Back to the story. Teira is sent to Denmark by the telecommunications firm, ComTech, and stays in her grandmother’s home which has sat vacant since grandmother went to live in a rest home.  

Teira was proud of her Danish heritage, and proud of her grandfather growing up. That was until she found out the truth of the situation. Her grandfather was a traitor to his country. With that news, all of her fairytale thoughts of pride and family honor came tumbling down; and being in the home that her mother fled because of the family reputation, is painful

While Teira works on merging a Danish telephone company with ComTech, she works closely with Christian Tanner. She likes him, but he has a terrible reputation as a playboy. It doesn’t help that the CEO’s daughter thinks they’re engaged and Christian hasn’t done anything to discourage her for fear of losing his job. A young man who knew Teira back in Salt Lake City, Utah, has come to help with the merge and to continue pursuing her. When she rejects him, he begins spreading rumors about her throughout the office.

Under-the-radar, and certainly unknown by Teira, someone is not happy to have her in her grandmother’s home. They want her to leave Denmark, and have the mystery of what happened so long ago in the heat of battle kept a secret.

As Teira visits her grandmother more frequently, she learns to see the good in her grandfather and begin to forgive him. In order to heal from the betrayal, Teira sets out to discover the details of what happened that fateful day, and decide for herself: Was her grandfather a traitor to his country, or was he a hero?

This is a charming story, and it reads like a cozy mystery, meaning that it doesn’t get too scary. There are certainly plenty of suspects, and even Christian is a suspect at one point. Jeri has done her homework on Denmark, and she writes a compelling story of love, honor, and family.

Well done, Jeri. To learn more about her, or her book, click the link: www.jerigilchrist.com/