Beatrix Patterson Mystery Series: Book 4
Publication Date: April 8, 2025
Strikes, blackmail, and murder plague Beatrix amid growing unrest following the supremacist ideologies of World War II.
Beatrix Patterson has faced monsters before, but in a world teetering on the edge of social change, she comes up against her most complicated case yet. In one chaotic morning, her friend has been arrested following a fight during a strike at the railroad, the railroad owner was found murdered, and another close friend admits to being blackmailed.
Amid growing tensions between the Union Pacific Railroad and workers’ strikes, Beatrix must go undercover before more people are killed or injured. But as she dives into this investigation, she finds one consistent group at the center.
In order to bring down the racial supremacist group digging its claws into Santa Barbara, California, she must put her intense loathing aside to stop the threat before it can reach Thomas, their baby girl Birdy, and the life they’re building. With deadly secrets everywhere she turns, Beatrix has to keep her cards close to her chest if she hopes to escape this case unscathed.
On the heels of World War II, unrest in the United States reaches a boiling point throughout the railroad industry.
Author Eva Shaw uses this as the backdrop for The Conductor, which is the fourth installment of the Beatrix Patterson mystery series.
For those new to the series, Beatrix Patterson tends to be helpful in times of crisis. Not only does she have a photographic memory, but she can quickly leverage resources to assist. That often requires her to confront danger as she solves mysteries.
Following World War II, California becomes a hotbed of hostilities as railroad owners and unions square off. It takes a personal turn when one of Beatrix’s friends gets arrested.
The suspense intensifies as Beatrix goes undercover, highlighting racial inequity and other hostilities that threaten all she holds dear.
The Conductor leverages historical events alongside an intriguing mystery.
Eva Shaw always loved a good mystery and when she took a break from her successful ghostwriting career, it was a mysterious idea than turned into The Seer, book 1 in the Beatrix Patterson series. She reads, breaths, watches and thrives on mysteries and is often shocked when the characters do a better job plotting the book than she could. When not writing, she’s kept on her toes thanks to her silly and rambunctious Welsh terrier companion, Coco Rose. Eva is an avid volunteer with her church, programs to support women and children, and as a clerk at the American Cancer Society’s resale shop. She loves gardening, reading, spending time with friends and family, traveling, shopping, painting and playing the banjolele. She and Coco live near the beach in Carlsbad, California.
Eva is a full-time, working writer with more than award-winning 100 books to her credit. In addition to the four Beatrix Patterson mysteries, she’s written: Ghostwriting for Fun & Profit, Writeriffic: Creativity Training for Writers, Write Your Book in 20 Minutes, Shovel It: Nature’s Health Plan, What to Do When a Loved One Dies, The Successful Writer’s Guide to Publishing Magazine Articles, Writing the Nonfiction Book, Insider’s Guide to San Diego, The Sun Never Sets, and more. Eva’s work has been featured, reviewed and honored in USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Costco Connection, Publisher’s Weekly, Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and over 1000 published columns, articles and short stories. Motivational, entertaining and witty, Eva keynotes at writing conferences and appears on television, radio and in the media. “Shaw knows her onions and peels them well,” Columbia School of Journalism. Washington Post said her work is “illuminating.” From Publisher’s Weekly, “Shaw produces books that are practical and worthy of the self-help genre.”
