A Trace of Smoke

Rebecca Cantrell

Dec 2016 · A Hannah Vogel Novel Book 1 · Rebecca Cantrell

About this ebook

**Winner Macavity and Bruce Alexander awards!**

It’s 1931 in Berlin, and the world is on the precipice of change—the affluent still dance in their gilded cages but more and more people are living under threat and poverty. Hannah Vogel is a crime reporter forced to write under the male pseudonym Peter Weill. As a widow of the Great War, she’s used to doing what she must to survive. But her careful facade is threatened when she stumbles across a photograph of her brother in the Hall of the Unnamed Dead. Reluctant to make a formal identification until she has all the details, Hannah decides to investigate herself. She must be cautious as Ernst’s life as a cross-dressing cabaret star was ringed in scandal, and his list of lovers included at least one powerful leader in the Nazi party.

She’s barely had a chance to begin before an endearing five-year-old orphan shows up on her doorstep holding a forged birth certificate list her dead brother Ernst as his father, and calling Hannah ‘Mother.’  Further complicating matters are her evolving feelings for Boris Krause, a powerful banker whose world is the antithesis of Hannah’s. Boris has built a solid wall against anyone disturbing his, or his daughter Trudi’s, perfectly managed lives—a wall Hannah and Anton are slowly breaking down.

As Hannah digs, she discovers political intrigues and scandals touching the top ranks of the rising Nazi party. Fired from her job and on the run from Hitler’s troops, she must protect herself and the little boy who has come to love her, but can she afford to find love for herself?

Praise for the novel:

"Bold narrator and chilling historical setting...an unusually vivid context, [lets] Hannah report on the decadence of her world without losing her life –or her mind."-- New York Times

"Nails both the 'life is a cabaret' atmosphere and the desperation floating inside the champagne bubbles." – Booklist

"Evocative and hauntingly crafted...a treasure of suspense, romance, and murder. Her ability to spin history into a visceral reality is done with the artistry of a master storyteller."-- James Rollins, New York Times bestselling author of The Seventh Plague

"A compelling and human story that captures brilliantly the atmosphere of Berlin during the rise of the Nazis."--Anne Perry, New York Times bestselling author of We Shall Not Sleep

Ratings and reviews

I practically read this book beginning to end with little breaks in-between! With such real life characters as Anton, Ernst and his ever devoted and loving sister the journalist, this story is sad yet written with historical facts, drama and detective thrills that, like I said! I practically read beginning to end.

From the 1st page to the last, could not put down. The setting and time so elegantly described and written make this a page- turner. Great characters, twisting plot and a surprise ending, come together to create an excellent and thoroughly enjoyable book.

This wonderful author obviously did her homework for this book. The description of the people and places in Berlin made me feel like I was there. The story drew me in from the beginning and kept my attention to the end.

About the author

New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Cantrell's works have won the ITW Thriller, the Bruce Alexander and the Macavity awards and been nominated for the Barry, Mary Higgins Clark, GoodReads Choice, APPY, RT Reviewers Choice, and Shriekfest Film Festival awards. She and her husband and son just moved from Berlin to Hawaii.