The Shiloh Sisters (Harrison Raines Civil War Mysteries, Book 5) [Paperback]

Michael Kilian (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 4, 2005

After the bloody battle of Shiloh, the beautiful wife of an important congressman and her twin sister are found shot in the heart, embalmed, and placed in the same coffin. Now, Harrison Raines must discover what bound the sisters in such a bizarre death.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In his fifth exciting adventure through the battlefields of the Civil War, Kilian's bumbling, myopic spy, Harrison Raines, comes to the aid of Ulysses S. Grant in the aftermath of the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862. Grant has given a pass to a federal congressman's wife, who insists on crossing into Rebel territory to meet with her twin sister. Later, as Union forces march south, both sisters turn up inside a single coffin, murdered. Grant needs this puzzle solved, and chance throws Raines, an agent working for Alan Pinkerton, into his service. Having returned from his exploits in New Mexico around the Battle of Glorieta Pass (chronicled in 2003's A Grave at Glorieta), Raines is tracking a former lover, Louise Devereux, who may be a Confederate spy; she slipped away from him in New Orleans. With his new sidekick, a French-Canadian Indian named Jack Tantou (a great character whose presence lights up every page he appears on), Raines is drafted into a risky investigation that takes him back and forth across enemy lines. Lots of action occurs before the likable secret agent assembles all the suspects before General Grant for a classic convoluted denouement. Kilian's solid formula once again gives his readers a fun history lesson, a who-won-it with every whodunit.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Michael Kilian is a Washington columnist and correspondent for the Chicago Tribune and the author of numerous books, including the Harrison Raines Civil War mysteries. His family includes early settlers of Virginia and New York, and Union soldiers who died at Fredericksburg and fought at Gettysburg on Little Round Top. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (January 4, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425200043
• ISBN-13: 978-0425200049
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #308,863 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Slow Start Redeemed by Entertaining Second Half, December 7, 2004

By 

Mark Baker (Santa Clarita, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Shiloh Sisters (Harrison Raines Civil War Mysteries, Book 5) (Hardcover)

General Grant is getting his army ready to march on Corinth, Mississippi when a beautiful woman enters his tent. She's the wife of a congressman and demands a pass to visit her twin sister across the line. Grant reluctantly agrees, but regrets his decision when the Confederates attack the next morning. In the aftermath of the bloody battle, not a trace can be found of either woman.

Meanwhile, Harrison Raines and Jacques Tantou are returning from New Mexico. Harry insists on going through New Orleans to follow up on a bit of information he got on Louis Devereux to try to quiet his mind about the loyalties of this beautiful actress. What happens there sends them up the Mississippi and across the path of Grant. Suddenly Harry finds himself on a quest to solve the mystery of what happened to the sisters to prove his loyalty to the Union.

Like the last book in this series, it starts out very slow. In fact, the first 50 pages of Harry could be cut out without missing anything critical to the story. Even when his story gets interesting, he behaves in such a stupid manner it was driving me crazy. The second half returned to the good plotting of the first few books in the series. Here there was plenty of excitement and I felt like the book was actually getting somewhere. Plus Harry grows a brain and starts acting like a grown up and not a teenager. And the ending has such a nice wrap-up, I wonder if we will have more in the series or not. Once again, the setting and real events of the time come to life. The author has spent lots of time researching the time period and it shows.

On the whole, I'd probably give the book a 3.5 rating, rounding up to four to be generous. Fans of the series will want to read it, but new comers won't care about the characters enough to continue to the real meat of the story, the second half.

3.0 out of 5 stars Sisters Lost, September 3, 2009

By 

Ruth Thompson "Weaver of Tales" (Venice, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Shiloh Sisters (Harrison Raines Civil War Mysteries, Book 5) (Paperback)

Twin sisters are not to be found after the battle of Shiloh. Harrison Raines, Harry to prove his loyalty to the Union must find these sisters. The author does a good job with the battle of Shiloh. Here at this church close to Corinth the meeting of the Union and the Rebel armies let the public how horrendous this war would be. The book has an interesting plot but is very slow to get started. By Ruth Thompson author of "The Bluegrass Dream" and "Natchez Above The River"