Thursday, November 28, 2024

Happy Holidays and A Traitor in Whitehall


Aren't the holidays coming up so fast? Everyone feels that this year but we all decided it is because Thanksgiving is at the end of the month and then Christmas is the middle of the week. Zooming by.

Did want to share (finally) what the Mystery Book Club read recently:

A Traitor in Whitehall (Evelyne Redfern #1) by Julia Kelly, for our Novemeber book.

About: "1940, England: Evelyne Redfern, known as “The Parisian Orphan” as a child, is working on the line at a munitions factory in wartime London. When Mr. Fletcher, one of her father’s old friends, spots Evelyne on a night out, Evelyne finds herself plunged into the world of Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s cabinet war rooms.

However, shortly after she settles into her new role as a secretary, one of the girls at work is murdered, and Evelyne must use all of her amateur sleuthing expertise to find the killer. But doing so puts her right in the path of David Poole, a cagey minister’s aide who seems determined to thwart her investigations. That is, until Evelyne finds out David’s real mission is to root out a mole selling government secrets to Britain’s enemies, and the pair begrudgingly team up.

With her quick wit, sharp eyes, and determination, will Evelyne be able to find out who’s been selling England’s secrets and catch a killer, all while battling her growing attraction to David?"

Historical fictions especially WWII books seem so popular these days. There are several fans in our book club so I chose this book with them in mind. I was so surprised and relieved that everyone loved this book, even saying this was the best book they read this year! Seldom does everyone like the book of the month.

What did they like about it? The liked the main character Evelyne. They liked reading about how the women that were working as secretaries in the "war room" lived and their duties. Churchill made some cameo appearances. They liked the puzzle of the mystery.

Me: I liked all of the above and the humor between Evelyne and David. There are also several references to detective novels and authors that you will recognize, Evelyne is a big reader. We all liked the discussions about codes and lists that they used. (without saying too much). I liked the ending, leading into the next book.

The second book in this series Betrayal at Blackthorn Park came out October 1, 2024. 

Here is the link for Julia Kelly.

https://www.juliakellywrites.com/

Enjoy! 





2 comments:

  1. Nice to hear your take on this book, Gayle. Hope to see everyone next week at the mystery group meeting. :-)

    ReplyDelete