Ah, a good old fashioned murder mystery, set in Churchill’s London during WWII will keep you on your toes and guessing until the end. Well written with plucky characters and subplots that keep driving the main, this is a definite read for you mystery fans out there!
*I received an arc from the publisher through NetGalley for an honest review ( )

Thanks to Minotaur Books & NetGalley for a digital advance reader's copy. All comments and opinions are my own.

This was a top-notch historical mystery novel! Skillfully and accurately written, I couldn’t stop reading. I adored the charming main character, Evelyne, and was sorry when I finished the book. So glad this is the first of a coming series. Can’t wait for more!

The murder mystery is cleverly constructed, taking place during World War II just as the bombs begin to fall in London. Evelyne has been hired as a secretary in Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s cabinet war rooms (CWR), the underground bunkers where everyone has secrets and no one can be trusted. Soon after Evelyne discovers a murdered colleague, she grudgingly teams up with David Poole, who turns out to be a (handsome) undercover government agent seeking the mole who is selling government secrets.

They are an “oil and water” couple, who reluctantly admit they need each other in order to find the murderer and the mole. Although Evelyne has no formal investigative training, her passion for detective fiction sharpens her skills in solving the murder. At the beginning of the novel she tells the reader, “You see, I simply adore detective fiction. Each new story contains within it the tantalizing possibility of a puzzle so fiendishly twisted that the solution may elude me until the final pages.”

An engaging reason I liked Evelyne was how she felt about books, not just detective fiction. She makes sure to bring five novels with her for her 3-day shift in the CWR, telling the reader, “I could go without many things during a time of war, but I could not abide the thought of being without books.”

The theme of books reoccurs as David and Evelyne spar over which novels are better – American detective fiction or British mysteries such as Agatha Christie’s. These small bits give the novel extra personality and charm and kept me turning the pages.

If you’re looking for an engaging World War II murder mystery with a hint of romance and the promise of future novels, this is the book for you. I highly recommend! ( )

Evelyne is a very likeable protagonist with an interesting backstory. For me, the first part of the narrative had me wanting to know more about her backstory, rather than her somewhat implausible incorporation into an investigation of espionage in Churchill's underground war cabinet rooms attached to Whitehall. Clearly, Author Kelly knows how to write an engaging novel but doesn't follow through with this promising beginning.

With no training and little awareness of what her recruiter expected, Evie barrelled through this adventure like the proverbial loose cannon. Wild speculation and over-riding her more senior colleague created unconvincing situations which made for a flawed narrative. If the reader has a frequent Say What?! reaction, the allure of losing oneself in the story isn't realized. The resulting chase after a murderer, and discoveries during the investigation, lost some attraction because of my sense that the MC's position in the story was too contrived. However, this flaw didn't interfere with my wanting to see how the adventure played out. I am on the fence about whether to put any effort in reading a follow up to this first book. ( )

Evelyn Redfern comes from a notorious family that had Evelyn in the middle of a child custody case.

When her mother died, and her father didn’t want her, she became known as the Paris Orphan.

To ease her situation, Evelyn found solace in reading mysteries.

It was good she liked to solve mysteries, because as she was working in Winston Churchhill‘s Cabinet War Rooms as a secretary, she became involved in the investigation of a murder of one of her fellow typists since she was the one who found her dead.

Evelyn and David Poole teamed up to do investigating .

It dragged on a bit, but we had the pleasure of being treated for a longer time to Ms. Kelly's descriptive writing and enjoyable story line. 4/5

Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ( )

A Traitor in Whitehall is an historical mystery by Julia Kelly set in England in 1940. The main protagonist, Evelyne Redfern, is working in a munitions factory when an old friend of her father’s offers her a new job as a secretary in Winston Churchill’s underground war room. She isn’t there long when she stumbles upon a murder. Although a police investigation is ongoing, Evelyne, an avid mystery reader, embarks on her own investigation. She runs up against David Poole, a Minister’s aide investigating recent leaks to the Germans. But she quickly convinces him she can go places he can’t and she becomes his assistant/partner.

To be honest, I have to say I have mixed feelings about the book. On the pro side, I always enjoy a bit of actual history mixed into historical fiction and Kelly provides some very interesting details of life in wartime as well as the underground war room including the ever-present mice and rats. For the most part, the story moves at a fast pace and the mystery was interesting. I also listened to the audiobook version and the narrator did a fine job.

On the con side, although, as I said, the story moved at a decent pace, there were some draggy parts but that didn’t bother me too much. My biggest problem was the premise itself. For me, it often is a huge stretch of my willing suspension of disbelief that a protagonist, armed with nothing more than a voracious consumption of mystery novels can solve mysteries that confound all the experts. I can accept it in a typical British cozy because there is usually a sly tongue-in-cheek humour to them. Not so here. I just couldn't buy into the premise that someone with no expertise would be allowed to pretty much take over an investigation at the highest level of national security especially during war time.

But that’s just me. I’ve read many other reviews and most people seem to have really enjoyed it. Not to say I hated it. There were parts of the book I Iiked and I was able to finish it so three stars it is.

I received an audiobook version of this book from Netgalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review. ( )