The Shanghai Tunnel - by Sharan Newman (Paperback)

About the Book

After the murder of her missionary parents in China, Emily marries a shrewd entrepreneur from Portland, Oregon. She learns too late that Horace Stratton is cruel. After Horace dies, Emily and their son arrive in Portland and discover a strange and potentially deadly land. First in a new series.

Book Synopsis

Portland, 1868. It is a rough hewn place, an exploding trading post that has dreams of becoming a metropolis.

Horace Stratton, one of Portland's wealthiest heirs, has decided to come home for good after amassing yet another fortune in Shanghai. With him comes his wife Emily, a shy daughter of missionaries, and their teenaged son. On the brink of that happy return, Horace suddenly falls ill and dies in San Francisco.

Emily and her son bring her husband home to Portland and they try to settle into this new culture. While they look as if they should belong, Portland is a strange and unsettling place for them.

Emily is guilt-ridden, but sorrow is one of the few emotions she didn't feel when told of her husband's passing. For Emily had learned more about her husband's past than anyone would believe. And she discovers that all of his schemes did not die with him.

His partners very much want Emily and her son to go away... by whatever means necessary. Emily will have to delve into her husband's seedy and painful past and set things right so that she can make a life for herself and her son in this strange land.

Review Quotes

"Readers looking for quality historical fiction ought to add Newman's name to their lists of must-read authors. Newman offers absorbing stories with well-drawn sympathetic characters." --Mystery Scene

"Newman mixes moral complexity and careful research to tell an entertaining tale." --Publishers Weekly on Heresy

"An unforgettable tale of vengeance and love and cruelty and death...Sharan Newman creates memorable characters who spring off the page breathing, crying, singing, laughing, as completely realistic as any people I have met. It is rare to find a book so historically accurate and enjoyable to read as this one is." --Mystery News on Cursed in the Blood

"Colorful characters and thoroughly researched culture add up to wonderful historical fiction." --Library Journal on Strong As Death

About the Author

Sharan Newman is a historian, lecturer, and writer who has won many awards, including the Macavity for Best First Mystery, and the Herodotus for Best Historical Mystery.