The Cryptographer's Dilemma

2.5 stars
Honestly, the story was a disappointment to me. I've previously enjoyed Alexander's contemporary books and was very excited to read a WW2 novel from her. However, I never got to bond with either of these characters because too many things simply didn't make sense. Early on it said she lived with her mother in the city but then that apparently was in some long former life? This is an example of numerous disconnects in plot points.

The POV is limited third-person but the story isn't candid about what the characters are really thinking and feeling. She has a major emotional breakdown but we aren't even told why–just told that something in the paper has wrecked her. This sort of story-telling is my least favorite because it's like they're government agents finding things out and just leaking bits and pieces to the press but we aren't actually there with them finding things out.

The doll lady was an interesting issue but honestly it didn't come up until halfway through the book. This left the plot feeling a bit unbalanced because so much led up to the clue and then there were sudden scenes in her POV. I'd have much preferred leaving out her POV and getting more of the clues that the two leads were following. In such a short novel, too many POVs is a risky business, and in this case since the two leads were distant, the third POV was enough to push it over the edge into choppiness.

Overall, I felt like it tried to be too many things at once (including a side plot of a family drama moment) and ultimately failed in the immersive experience I look for in a novel simply because there was too much going on at once, which resulted in a lot of telling and not enough showing.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free reading copy. A favorable review was not required.