The Shanghai Secret

The Tidewater Chronicles, Book 1

By: Vanessa Lind

Narrated by: Kathleen Strecker

Two women. One chance to get it right....

“This town has stories,” Jo’s mother tells her. “You’re the one to tell them”.

Now her mother is gone, and Jo blames herself.

In the Gilded Age boomtown of Astoria, Oregon, Jo sets out to prove herself as a girl reporter. Following the trail of a missing maid, she finds her newspaper’s publisher dead. Left in charge of the paper, she discovers danger is a lot closer than she thinks.

In present-day Astoria, Olivia is running from her failures. The more she tries to control her life, the more it gets away from her. Now she’s got a bookshop she never wanted, and an offer that will turn the town against her. Jo's unfinished Gilded Age story could be the one thing she gets right, if only she can make the pieces fit. Is Jo’s secret the key to her redemption?

©2023 Vanessa Lind (P)2023 Vanessa Lind

Dual time stories!

Thrilling audio, The Shanghai Secret from the series, The Titewater Chronicles, introducing Jo and her future in the printing business. I was so impressed with the research of the era and the author's knowledge of Astoria. Well worth reading and listening to the audio. The then-and-now format is so much fun to read about Jo in the past and Olivia in the present. Vanessa did a marvelous job with the beginning of this series.

Enchanting story with engaging narrative

This small town mystery flip-flopping between two time periods has some intrigue, a touch of romance, and a fair bit of background about the charming and historical town of Astoria, Oregon. Narrator Kathleen Strecker does an excellent job of moving the plot along and bringing the characters to life. I enjoyed listening to this book and look forward to more by the same author and narrator.