Whispers from the Shadows by Roseanna M. White

 Lady Gwyneth Fairchild is forced to flee England when her father is betrayed.  Anticipating the attack, her father, a general, arranges for her to travel to America to say with the Lane family in Maryland. Gwyneth is confused by the decision, since the British are currently at war with the Americans. Thad Lane finds Gwyneth a broken woman, haunted by her family tragedy and fearful that the perpetrator with seek out and kill her next. He treats her gently, and with time she begins to feel safety in his presence. As they grow closer she begins to realize that Thad and his parents are not what they seem on the surface.  As the War of 1812 approaches their doorstep, Gwyneth has to decide where her true loyalties lie.

This is the second in the Culper Ring Series. I read the first back in 2024, and liked it, so I am not sure why I waited so long to read this one. I enjoyed it as well.  Gwyneth is the most broken of any of White's heroines I have read so far and she does a good job of portraying her trauma.  Thad is a wonderfully solid counterweight to her brokenness. I also enjoyed how White incorporates Gwyneth's drawing as a tool of healing and also as an apt plot device. I have recently read a book about the war of 1812, so was happy to see that White grounded the story within real historical events. As in the first book, the Christian elements are a little heavy handed, and the cover is similarly lame, but I can handle that. (352 p. 2013)