{"id":7050,"date":"2026-05-19T07:12:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T14:12:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/?p=7050"},"modified":"2026-05-19T07:12:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T14:12:22","slug":"shaina-steinberg-echoes-of-infamy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/shaina-steinberg-echoes-of-infamy\/","title":{"rendered":"Shaina Steinberg: Echoes of Infamy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bishop & Gallagher #3<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I usually have no problem catching up with a series when I begin with a later instalment, but due to the complex backstories of the characters in this one, I found myself having to peruse a synopsis of the first two books to figure things out. It\u2019s set in 1948 Los Angeles, and the main characters, Evelyn Bishop and Nick Gallagher, met during the war working as OSS agents.\u00a0 In this novel, they\u2019ve finally married and Evelyn has taken over the family aeronautics company, while Nick is working as a private eye.<\/p>\n

Steinberg addresses many issues such as chauvinism in the workplace, Japanese internment camps and the contemporary treatment of homosexuals.\u00a0 As the book opens, Bishop Aeronautics is breaking ground on an expansion when Evelyn is approached by Billy Takemura, a Japanese American soldier, who insists they are breaking ground on land where his family\u2019s illegally seized (and now destroyed) restaurant formerly sat.\u00a0 Evelyn, who has a highly developed conscience, asks Nick to investigate and uncover how the Takemuras lost their land.<\/p>\n

Soon after he gets to work, a body is discovered on the development site, which turns out to be that of the owner of a company who had acquired a lot of land for new housing developments.\u00a0 It\u2019s not long before Billy\u2019s brother, the ne\u2019er do well Hanzo, known to the police as a \u201ctroublemaker\u201d with a long record, is arrested for the crime and Nick gets to work attempting to prove his innocence. Unfortunately, he has to deal with a racist, sexist sheriff who figures he\u2019s already cracked the case.<\/p>\n

At the same time, a young boy appears near Nick\u2019s office who turns out to be Nick\u2019s nephew. Abandoned by his parents and older siblings at twelve, about the same age as nephew Rory, Nick is delighted to again find some semblance of family.\u00a0 Suspecting Rory\u2019s life has been no easier than his own, Nick and Evelyn take him in, feed him and work to gain his trust.\u00a0 This portion is very well done, well written and moving, with wonderful character development, and it becomes the emotional heartbeat of the novel.<\/p>\n

Nick\u2019s investigation takes in the horror of the Japanese internment camps during the war, history that seems quite pertinent at the present moment.\u00a0 Japanese were turned out of their homes with only what they could carry and put into camps, returning after the war, as the Takemuras did, to find their homes and businesses gone, making the rage felt by people like Billy and Hanzo perfectly understandable.<\/p>\n

Steinberg also takes a critical look at the scepticism Evelyn meets as she runs her father\u2019s aeronautics company.\u00a0 Several of the men she works with have known her since she was a young and still treat her like a child, assuming that since she\u2019s a newlywed, she\u2019ll no doubt be leaving soon to have babies.\u00a0 To their surprise however, Evelyn proves herself to be a bit of a bad ass with no intention of quitting.\u00a0 Maybe it\u2019s not wishful thinking and there were<\/em> companies treating their workers so well back in 1948, but I\u2019m not convinced.<\/p>\n

Another character struggles with homosexuality, something that was, if not criminalized, was certainly deemed unacceptable.\u00a0 I\u2019m assuming there were people in 1948 like Evelyn and Nick who had no problems with gay people, but it was far from the prevailing attitude.<\/p>\n

This book has a rich and textured canvas, full of interesting (if maybe a few too many) characters, putting heartbreaking life into the issues the author confronts. Strongest of all is the relationship between Evelyn, Nick and Rory, as the couple helps the young man to find his footing.\u00a0 The investigation is well done with a good clue toward the end that cracks the case, and the entire mystery is set in an unusual time period for a mystery (at least one set in the States), the whole providing a satisfying mystery as well as a fascinating look at postwar life. —\u00a0Robin Agnew<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bishop & Gallagher #3 I usually have no problem catching up with a series when I begin with a later instalment, but due to the complex backstories of the characters in this one, I found myself having to peruse a synopsis of the first two books to figure things out. It\u2019s set in 1948 Los … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2493,2492,10,636,162,2495,2494,1276,2491],"class_list":["post-7050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-bishop-and-gallagher","tag-echoes-of-infamy","tag-historical","tag-japanese-internment-camps","tag-kensington-books","tag-lost-family","tag-post-wwii-us","tag-robin-agnew","tag-shaina-steinberg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7050"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7053,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7050\/revisions\/7053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}