Splintered Loyalty

Seventy-five years following the internment of Americans of Japanese ancestry, an elderly Nisei hires Ava Rome to find out how his best friend, a Japanese-American Buddhist priest, died in the Tule Lake Internment Camp.

In the course of her investigation she uncovers another cold case, the rape and murder of a Japanese-American teenager on the eve of the Pearl Harbor attack. Was the same person responsible for both crimes? Ava suspects so. She travels to the Tule Lake site in Northern California where an attack on her life proves that the cold cases are deadly hot. Other people close to the case are murdered on orders from a powerful individual, whose reach stretches from Hawaii to halfway across the continental United States, and who will kill to keep the past secret.

Returning to Honolulu, Ava experiences a devastating act of betrayal before solving the murders and revealing a seven decades-long history of evil.

Praise for SPLINTERED LOYALTY:

“What happened decades ago that WH Global will kill to cover up? Former Army MP Ava Rome is determined to find out. A non-stop thriller with a strong back story of people caught up in the World War II internment of Americans of Japanese descent in Hawaii.” —Terry Shames, Macavity Award-winning author of the Samuel Craddock mysteries

“Splintered Loyalty is an exhilarating plunge into a dark past. Mark Troy’s heroine, Ava Rome, is tough, talented and tenacious and riveting to watch! Bravo!” —Matt Coyle, author of the Shamus, Anthony and Lefty Award-winning Rick Cahill crime series

“Long one of my favorite short-story writers, Mark Troy proves himself equally deft as a novelist. Splintered Loyalty, the latest in the Ava Rome private eye series, finds Rome digging deep into the past to investigate the death of a Buddhist priest during WWII. The tension slowly builds as Rome uncovers long-hidden secrets that lead to an explosive conclusion. I highly recommend Splintered Loyalty.” —Michael Bracken, Anthony-, Edgar-, and Shamus-Award nominee

“Ava Rome is a great protagonist—hard-boiled and humane—who tackles historical injustice with style in this multifaceted thriller. A gripping and satisfying read.” —Tom Mead, author of Death and the Conjuror

“Mark Troy’s Splintered Loyalty is one part Cold Case Files mixed with two parts Magnum, PI. Ava Rome is sexy, tough and enjoys a good vodka (or three.) If I’m ever in trouble in Honolulu, she’s my first phone call.” —Tim O’Mara, author of the Raymond Donne series

“Ultra-tough protector of the weak, Ava Rome works out of the island of Oahu where during World War II, a Japanese priest died in an incarceration camp. Ava promises to look into how the man died 77 years before. She doesn’t know what to expect, but it isn’t exactly what she finds, nor is it what she anticipates being of such current importance. Author Mark Troy surprises his readers and makes a true heroine of his smart and powerful protagonist.” —G. Miki Hayden, teaching Writing the Thriller and Writing the Mystery at Writer’s Digest University online