In The Shadows

What possible connection could a murder in New York in the 1930s have with a British girl in 2013 researching her great uncle's life before World War 2?
New York, 1920; the American Museum of Natural History plays host to the 3rd International Eugenics Conference. The eminent Swiss proponent of the subject, Ernst Rdin was unanimously elected president of the International Federation of Eugenics Societies, however Charles Darwin€s son Leonard was unable to attend, as he was eighty-eight and in poor health.
For one man, however, it was to be his last. Sir Charles Davenport, faced ridicule and ruin over his claims to have found the secrets of rejuvenation. One group of individuals went against the consensus and believed him. Indeed they wanted what he had discovered and were willing to kill for it. After all, they were intent on building the Master Race!

His body was found in the East river; his killers were never found. His assistant, one Simon Wadsworth went missing, as did all his notes. There were no witnesses and no arrests. It was strongly suspected that a group of Nazis were responsible, but all had fled the country before the crime was discovered.

The present day: after the death of her mother, the great-niece of Simon Wadsworth finds some papers that give her a little information on the man about whom the family never talked. Determined to find out the truth, she locates the only living relative of Sir Charles Davenport €“ Cameron Davenport, his grandson. Cameron, in his seventies, is recovering from several treatments and hopes his cancer is in remission.

Without knowing it, Rachel Coomber sets off a series of events that take her to America, Africa and finally to Canada. Little was she to know that, lurking in the shadows was a menace that everyone thought had died out. The Third Reich may have been destroyed, but until Rachel started asking questions, nobody realised just how close they were to the rise of the Fourth Reich. The murdered professor€s legacy meant that some of those involved had been around for the last one. Rejuvenation was only one part of the process they had developed, the other was a means of hiding identities in the most ingenious manner €“ by changing gender.