The Crimson Cipher by Susan Page Davis

A female Navy cryptographer seeks to save lives...and uncover her father’s killers.

Emma Shuster’s father is murdered, leaving his secret encryption project unfinished. Since she worked with him, the navy offers her the position they’d hoped her father would fill—breaking ciphers.

It’s 1915, and saboteurs are doing their best to keep America out of the Great War by bombing ships and factories and fomenting unrest among workers.

Can Emma discover their plans and unmask their leader? Adventure and romance beckon as she joins a band of cryptographers trying to stop their enemies within the United States.

My Review:
Set in 1915 before America declares war, this novel about cryptography intrigued me from the beginning Note to Readers until the finish which offers a code to break. (I must admit, I'm no Emma--the protagonist--and I gave up.) What a strong character Emma is... an intelligent, mannerly woman, who has to deal with the murder of her father. I admire her.

I loved reading this Christian historical fiction about the lives of code breakers. I'd never considered the intensity or dedication of the work. Add to that a romance with handsome Lieutenant John Patterson, a guy who would cause any one's heart to beat more rapidly, and you have a winning plot.

Readers may try their hand at solving the ciper message in the back of the book and enter a contest to win another Summerside Press novel.

Here is an intense novel, full of mystery that most will enjoy. Thank you to Summerside Press for my copy.

If you would like to read the first chapter, click here.