Category: Interwar Period (Nov 1918 – Sep 1939)

The period between the end of WWI and the beginning of WWII

Treacherous Is the Night by Anna Lee Huber

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Treacherous Is the Night (Verity Kent, #2)Treacherous Is the Night by Anna Lee Huber

Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Verity Kent #2
Publication Date: 9/25/18

This is a captivating, suspenseful and beautifully written tale set in the aftermath of WWI. It moves quickly and is filled with twists and turns. There is so much rich period detail that is so well done that you feel as if you are there. This author does a lot of research and I always learn something new when I read her work. The characters are so well written that you would like to introduce yourself and make them your friend. I particularly like Max and can’t wait for him to get his HEA. Once I began my read, I couldn’t put it down!

If you read the first book in the series, This Side of Murder, you saw Verity’s reaction to a séance. So, just imagine her reaction when her best friend, Daphne, asks her to attend a séance with her. Verity did her best to decline the request, but Daphne is a very persuasive lady, and Verity ends up at the séance. Two big surprises await her there – (1) is the fact that Max is attending with his aunt and (2) the medium ‘channels’ one of Verity’s contacts from her days as an operative during the war. Verity doesn’t believe for a minute that the reading is true, but how could that medium possibly know about Emelie. Verity is very shaken when she leaves the séance – and even more shaken when she returns to the medium’s home the next morning to find the house burning and the medium dead.

Verity immediately begins to dig into the matter and finds a trail of breadcrumbs. As she and Sidney follow them, the danger increases. They leave England and head across the channel to some of the more horrific scenes of the war – and to the areas where Verity spent a lot of time acting for the crown. The crumbs are sparse and it takes Verity a lot of effort to follow them and find the solution to the mystery – and the madman at the end of the journey.

With the backdrop of the mystery and its solution, Verity and Sidney are still trying to figure out how to make their marriage work. Their fifth anniversary is approaching, but they’ve not spent more than a couple of months of that time together. Sidney was shipped off the war three days after they married and he had very few leaves where he could come home. Then, the unthinkable happened – Sidney died – and Verity went into deep, deep mourning for him. She didn’t care whether she lived or died and she took some big risks – some of them in her spying. She is keeping secrets from Sidney and until they clear the air, they’ll never come together. She’s afraid he’ll hate her if she tells him all. So, it is really nice to see them forgive each other and get back to that love you just knew they always had for each other. Although – I still think Sidney got off a bit easy for what he put her through. All in all, I loved the character development between Verity and Sidney and Verity’s struggle with reconciling her wartime work and settling into a normal life.

I loved the mystery with Emelie because it was really well done and kept me guessing until the end. There are just so many things that I loved about this book that there is no way I can mention all of them here. I can say, however, if you want to be thoroughly entertained and learn something in the process, this book is for you! I can hardly wait for their next adventure!

Please check out my reviews at:
Blog: https://flippinpages.blog/
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/FlippinPagesRev
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BarbBookReview

“I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”

The Gate Keeper by Charles Todd

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Historical Mystery, Interwar Period (Nov 1918 - Sep 1939), MysteryLeave a comment

The Gate Keeper (Inspector Ian Rutledge #20)The Gate Keeper by Charles Todd

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Inspector Ian Rutledge #20
Publication Date: 2/6/18

How in the world did I manage to miss this series until it was up to the twentieth book in the series? I thoroughly enjoyed my visit with our damaged WWI hero. It is two years after the war is over and he’s still struggling with his shell shock and has to constantly fight to stay in control. You have to admire him for his valiant fight and his way of dealing with his issues. I’m not sure how Hamish was explained in earlier books, so my explanation probably isn’t a good one – but – I think Hamish is Ian’s way of dealing with the shell shock. Ian carries on a constant dialogue with Hamish – in his head – and Hamish’s comments often save Ian from injury. It wouldn’t take much, even two years later, to push Ian over the edge.

I love mysteries, but usually only like them long-term if there is a romance involved, so I’m not sure if it is a series I’d stick with for very long. The series is twenty books in, and there is no love interest and doesn’t appear to be headed in that direction. This book also made me sad because the victims were genuinely nice people whose lives were cut short.

The writer’s descriptions of the time and people just transports you to that era – lovely cottages still heated with wood fires, motor cars that had to be hand cranked, telephones were almost non-existent, ladies wearing lovely feathered hats – just a gentler time in a country that had been devastated by war.

Ian Rutledge’s much-adored sister has just married and Ian is having a bit of a panic attack, so he flees London. No destination in mind – just mindless driving – somewhat lost and reliving scenes from the war – he ends up much farther afield than he had intended. He doesn’t actually even know where he is and then he spots a car stopped in the middle of the road and a woman, covered in blood, standing over the lifeless body of a man.

Knowing that he can’t face returning to London at the moment, he finagles around to take over the investigation. As he learns more and more about the young man who has died, Ian comes to like and respect him and can’t imagine that he’d have an enemy in the world. He was a very nice, generous and caring young man – who in the world could have wanted him dead. As he investigates, he finds some intriguing clues, but can’t find anything to which they actually relate.

Then – a few days later – a second murder committed in the same way and with the same intriguing clues left behind. Again, the victim is a war hero, widower, nice, generous and not an enemy in the world. Again, as Ian investigates and gets to know the man, he comes to like and respect him.

As the investigation continues there is no link that Ian can find between the two men – yet they had the same enemy. Then – Ian hears of another death, assigned to another investigator, that sounds the same as Ian’s case.

Ian does good solid police work and continues to investigate until he has all the answers. You won’t like some of those answers, but I’d say that it is probably a very true-to-life investigation and case. The writing is excellent, the plot well laid out, the pacing was good and you come to like and be invested in the characters.

I recommend the book.

Please check out my reviews at:
Blog: https://flippinpages.blog/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/flippinpages…
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FlippinPagesRev
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BarbBookReview

“I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”