Death in Focus by Anne Perry

Elena Standish is a British photographer visiting Italy with her sister, Margot, in 1933.  Both Margo and Elena had family members who were lost in WWI and neither has found a permanent romantic relationship since.  In Italy, the Elena meets Ian Newton and instantly feels drawn to him.  Their connection strengths during a shared trauma, when they find the dead body of a man in their hotel.  When Ian gets called away suddenly to Paris, Elena, usually reserved, impetuously agrees to accompany him. Their train trip turns into a nightmare, and the beginning of a fast paced adventure that leads Elena into the heart of pre-WWII Nazi Germany.

Anne Perry is a bestselling author of historical adventures.  I wanted to try one of her books, but her other series have been going on a long time and I didn't really want to read a book written 15 or 25 years ago.  Then I saw this one, the first in a new series.  I turned out to be quite good.  The setting is vivid and the characters nuanced and layered.  She has a wonderful way of unfolding the story bit by bit, so the reader comes to realize what is going on about the same time as the reader does.  I also liked how vulnerable the main character is.  She is not superhero.  She has just barely enough courage to get through what she has to, and is always at risk of losing it.

I just read the Wikipedia page about Perry, and holy cow, what a life!  I am not going to tell you about her, so you will go and read it yourself. (305 p. 2019)