As the turbulent Kennedy administration begins, Alexandra Zsofia Bel, a congressional staffer with a suspicious past, investigates the murder of a State Department lawyer despite risks to her own life. Alex has changed her last name to Bell, her hair color to blond, and her life story to middle-class American to get a job in government. She had hoped to keep her personal history a secret in her new life in Washington, but she risks exposure to catch a murderer before J. Edgar Hoover's FBI catches her first.
Alex finds the corruption in the nation's capital stinks like the sewage-laden Potomac River. She, along with her little dog Miss Bea, a cynical beagle and Jack Russell mix, follow the scent, and she also has to use new Washington contacts as well as her family's connections to find the killer and reveal a conspiracy. This novel is the first of a planned series featuring Alex Bell that will be set in the volatile decade of the 1960s.
Susan Thistlethwaite is the author of three previous mystery novels in a contemporary series featuring Kristin Ginelli, a Chicago policewoman turned junior professor. What She Will Become is her first historical mystery. Prior to fiction writing, Thistlethwaite was a professor (1984–2018) and president (1998–2008) at Chicago Theological Seminary. She has written or edited thirteen academic books.
“Thistlethwaite’s fourth mystery novel leaves the reader reeling, breathless, and aching for more. Heroine Alex Bell is tougher than J. Edgar Hoover’s agents, smarter than seasoned D.C. operatives, and as principled as ministers and journalists who step up to moral challenges. Scapegoating women, queer people, and people of color has deep and intertwined roots in American society that the author explores with panache. Delve into this complex read about the ancestors of the dark web and the violent Right to see contemporary social dynamics in sharp relief.”
—Mary E. Hunt, Co-director, Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Ritual (WATER)
“Thistlethwaite raises serious moral and spiritual questions of good and evil in this intriguing historical fiction drama. . . . Its themes are utterly contemporaneous. Adding a spirited counterpoint to the violence and wickedness of some of the characters are sweet portrayals of the jubilant homecoming tradition of the Black church; the feistiness and wit of the hero’s Hungarian immigrant and socialist worker family; and the ubiquitous presence of ‘Miss Bea,’ a small terrier who will steal every open heart.”
—Carter Heyward, Professor of Theology emerita, Episcopal Divinity School
“Thistlethwaite, a well-recognized, rigorous academic who through her theses sought liberative praxis, masterfully now employs the art of storytelling to raise consciousness. Her historical novel, situated in the turbulent 1960s, uncovers how fear—fear that white heterosexual men won’t rule—could endanger the body politic. A must-read, an accessible read, an enjoyable read, and more importantly, a thought-provoking read.”
—Miguel A. De La Torre, Professor of Social Ethics and Latinx Studies, Iliff School of Theology
“Before history is history it is stories; the history part comes later. Novels can be an essential way we imagine the past for ourselves, recognize the world of our own lives, and see what is at stake for us now. What She Will Become, beneath all its action and suspense, invites us to do just that: to remember, imagine, recognize, and resist.”
—W. Dow Edgerton, Professor of Ministry emeritus, Chicago Theological Seminary
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