Having read some of this series out of sequence I felt compelled to start from the beginning and see how Fiona got into the spying business and how she managed to get tangled up with Fredrick Fredricks.
In 'Betrayal at Ravenswick' we learn about Fiona's marital strife, divorce and her work with the War Office. We also see Fiona don a disguise for the first time to pass herself off as male and a famous doctor with a speciality in poisons. This speciality is soon to prove invaluable when a murder occurs at Ravenswick and Fiona suspects poisoning.
Fredrick Fredricks is also a master of disguise, clever and charming. There is a great air of mystery surrounding him as he seems to blend into all kinds of social situations but no one knows his background intimately beyond his reputation as a huntsman and a journalist.
Archie, Fiona's love interest in the series is introduced in this book and it was interesting to experience their first meeting and the beginning of their friendship.
The murder mystery here is complex as there are so many possible suspects with motive and opportunity. The author does a great job of tying all the threads together whilst keeping the reader in suspense.
This was a great start to the series and I will be sure to dive into the next book very soon. ( )

Fiona Figg is a woman whose life is in transition. She is reeling from a divorce, volunteering at a hospital and managing harsh living conditions during a war, and learning to be a spy! The description of the emotional connection she has with the patients is touching, and her sense of humor in spite of an uncertain future was refreshing.

The setting of London in World War I is vividly described, and I found myself breathing the fresh air along with her when she traveled to the countryside. That is truly escaping into a good story.

Had I known the book would end with a cliffhanger scene, I might have waited until the next one is available to begin reading (which reflects my impatience rather than the quality of the book!). The anticipation of watching Fiona grow as a character and hone her skills will definitely bring me back. And curiosity about a certain telegram...

As a fan of this author's Jessica James series, I know Fiona will become more experienced and have additional harrowing adventures. ( )

cosy-mystery, 1910s, agent, amateur-sleuth, family-dynamics, false-information, England, situational-humor, depression, murder-investigation, murder*****

The mystery became interesting but the voice actor continued to be irritating despite a good ability to differentiate characters. And characters they certainly are! Fiona goes into a deep depression after finding her husband in flagrante and being divorced by him. Only her job as a file clerk for the British War Office helps her to keep going on, and then she winds up replacing an agent needed on assignment. But she has to impersonate a male doctor! She's doing passably well when the murder occurs and she needs to investigate. Good sight read! ( )

Fiona works for the war department and has generally been unappreciated by the men around her. She is also unappreciated by her husband who went looking for greener pastures. Her life is at odds but then she finds a way to help by going undercover to Ravenswick Abbey to investigate a war correspondent who may or may be what he says he is.

While there she meets the family who are a curious group of people doing their best to deal with all the War has brought upon the country. But they are also doing their best to try and pretend that the War has not come. Fiona is tasked with first going undercover as no less than a Doctor – good thing she has taken some acting classes! While there she needs to discover if a guest of the Abbey is what he claims or is he a spy.

This was such an utterly delightful book. The character of Fiona just catches the heartstrings of the reader. She is not the typical heroine written into most novels; she is not a beautiful, perfectly coiffed, young woman. Fiona is, in fact an ordinary, everyday, slightly mannish, overly tall, not perfectly pretty but highly intelligent woman who is not fully appreciated by any of the men in her orbit. That is their loss. For Fiona is a force to be reckoned with even when she is not so sure of herself or her talents.

I thoroughly enjoyed this character and this book. Fiona is not your typical heroine in that she does not move through her world with bounding confidence and she makes mistakes. She is wonderfully human and delightfully comical. A character a reader can really get behind. The mystery was a good one and the location was pure delight. I will truly look forward to the next book in this series. Fiona is bright and a lot of fun even if she is not fully appreciated by everyone at the Home office.

The book was a quick and easy read and I really did enjoy the Fiona character but the book doesn’t end in a traditional way. It basically sets up the second book in the series which is probably good marketing for the purchase of that book but a little frustrating for a reader looking for a bit of resolution to the story. So now the waiting is on to see if Fiona will ultimately prevail. ( )

While we're all stuck inside, due both to the pandemic and hunkering down for winter, the start of a new mystery book series is a reason for joy. While readers are patiently (or impatiently) waiting for the new Maisie Dobbs book from Jacqueline Winspear and the new Maggie Hope book from Susan Elia McNeal, Kelly Oliver has written a book series for them.

Betrayal at Ravenswick is set in 1917 during WWI. Fiona Figg is a file clerk with Room 40, a war intelligence agency in England. She just discovered that her husband has been having an affair with his secretary, and he wants a divorce.

England is attempting to get the United States to join the Allies to end the war, and haven't yet come up with a way to convince them. When Fiona gives her bosses a suggestion they haven't thought of, she becomes a part of the team. Her photographic memory makes her a valuable asset as well.

While on her first undercover assignment she dresses as a man, Dr. Vogel, who specializes in poisons and gynecological issues (an odd combination), she becomes involved in the murder of a countess while staying at the countess's family estate.

There is no shortage of suspects, from the countess's husband, children, and the man Fiona was sent to watch, Frederick Fredericks, a South African big game hunter and newspaper reporter. Fiona has been ordered by her bosses not to get involved, stay to her assignment, but she gets involved, even having to testify at a trial in her disguise.

The mystery behind who killed the countess is intriguing, the characters interesting, (there are agents and double agents galore), and although it is a little incredulous that no one sees through Fiona's disguise as a man, if you can suspend your disbelief there, you've got a good start to a new spy series. I like that Fiona is a feminist, unhappy that even as she is now a full-fledged spy she is expected to make tea for the men at the office, and clean up the break room. ( )