Clues in the Shadows, a mystery novel, focuses on the effects and the aftermath of the war at home.
Molly's father has returned from World WarII; however, he has become a somber person, not the light, teasing person he once was.
Molly and her friends continue to volunteer for the war effort: they collect books to donate to hospitalized soldiers, they participate in paper recycling, they sell war bonds and they make friendship bags for soldiers.

Then Molly finds that someone has tampered with her collected paper. Molly observes strange behavior in the unpleasant Fletcher and his negative nephew Ronnie Vanko. Molly's favorite Red Cross leader, Miss Delaney, resigns. As Molly states, "Wars don't really end when the shooting stops." ( )

Molly's newest mystery takes places in May of 1945, a month after Dad has come home but before the end of the war itself. She's growing mighty tired of having to put on a brave face - not only as her patriotic duty, but because Mom wants the kids to make sure the house is peaceful and quiet for Dad - who, by the way, isn't the same as he used to be. So Molly is basically wishing the war were over and back to normal.

Though this is "a Molly mystery," I wouldn't say that the mysteries are the focus of the novel. Rather, they serve to tie several plot threads together and link the overarching themes of the story. The first mystery comes up when Molly, Ricky, and other children in the neighborhood notice that the waste paper they've been collecting has been tampered with, but none appears to have gone missing. The second mystery is that of a night-time prowler - why would anyone be sneaking around Molly's garden at night? The third is that of Miss Delaney, a young woman who volunteers at the Red Cross and works with the Junior Red Cross, but has mysteriously resigned from the post. Finally, there is a fourth mystery revolving around a redheaded man who was saying strange things and then picking fights for no reason, and whom Molly saw being arrested. Of course, there's also a subtler mystery of "why isn't Dad the same as he used to be?" but it's never addressed directly as a mystery.

The biggest theme of the story is that though a war has ended, the effects of that war will take a long time to heal. This is directly addressed by the celebration of VE-Day on the 8th of May. Molly is surprised when, despite the war being over in Europe, the rationing of things like electricity, gasoline, and sugar continues to occur. She also visits the Veterans Hospital with the Junior Red ross, where she discovers that though many of the soldiers have come home, they'll never be able to return to the lives they used to live. PTSD plays a large role in this aspect of the story, though it is called "the jitters" and "battle fatigue" by the characters - PTSD wasn't a term used at the time, but it is explained in the Looking Back section.

The story also addressed the way the homefront had to adapt to the return of soldiers after the war. Different points of view were presented regarding the factory jobs women had taken and the sudden loss of those jobs - some of the characters welcomed the chance to return to a homemaker's lifestyle, while others resented the loss of their jobs. But even those who were glad to return home had to adjust to the change. Also needing adjustment was their relationships with the returning men. Just like Molly was having trouble getting used to Dad again, many people had to learn to get along with men who were forever affected by the war in one way or another. There were several suggestions in the book for how to interact with the servicemen who were now home that I thought were really good for modern kids, too. In fact, a lot of the advice Molly received, or the experiences she had, struck me as highly applicable to kids whose parents have served in combat zones and are now home (or will be coming home).

One of the things I love about Kathleen Ernst's American Girl Mysteries is her attention to the details. Clues in the Shadows really isn't any different: the setting and people are rich with life and quirks and it's a really fantastic addition to the Molly canon. Fans of Linda and Susan will be glad to know that they have relatively large roles in the book, but aren't relegated to sounding boards or stick figures - Linda, especially, receives a lot of attention. Details from Molly's other books aren't forgotten, either - Ricky still does airplane spotting and has a collection of model airplanes, Molly still has trouble with math, Jill still tries to act like she's a grown-up, and so on. Among the new, smaller details are several that I loved, but which might have been left out by another writer - Dad knits with yellow yarn during the week or two the story takes place, there is a Catholic church down the street from the Red Cross offices, Molly and her family attend church on VE-Day (but not the Catholic church!), and more.

I really appreciate that even with all the detail and not-really-necessary bits, there wasn't much that felt gratuitous to the plot. In fact, the only thing I really didn't care for was one of the mystery subplots! And even then, all the subplots were interwoven, so the loss of it would leave other threads hanging. I think my dissatisfaction with it is because the solution to the mystery didn't have the same feel as the rest of the mysteries, but more of a Nancy Drew feel to it - it's the only mystery that was based more on developing-action than on character-development, I suppose is the best way to put it.

This is definitely a great book for Molly fans who want to see what happens after Changes for Molly, but I think it can stand alone and would be very good for any kids whose family members are or were in the service as well as kids who want to know more about what life was like during and directly after WWII. ( )