The Great War is over, but in this captivating new mystery from award-winning author Anna Lee Huber, one young widow discovers the real intrigue has only just begun . . . England, 1919. Verity Kent’s grief over the loss of her husband pierces anew when she receives a cryptic letter, suggesting her beloved Sidney may have committed treason before his untimely death. Determined to dull her pain … death. Determined to dull her pain with revelry, Verity’s first impulse is to dismiss the derogatory claim. But the mystery sender knows too much—including the fact that during the war, Verity worked for the Secret Service, something not even Sidney knew.
Lured to Umbersea Island to attend the engagement party of one of Sidney’s fellow officers, Verity mingles among the men her husband once fought beside, and discovers dark secrets—along with a murder clearly meant to conceal them. Relying on little more than a coded letter, the help of a dashing stranger, and her own sharp instincts, Verity is forced down a path she never imagined—and comes face to face with the shattering possibility that her husband may not have been the man she thought he was. It’s a truth that could set her free—or draw her ever deeper into his deception . . .
“My favorite new mystery series!”
– Alyssa Maxwell, USA Today bestselling author
“Sure to please fans of classic whodunits and lovers of historical fiction alike.”
–Jessie Crockett, author of Whispers Beyond the Veil
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Historical mystery is one of my favorite genres, so I was delighted to find Anna Lee Huber’s new series, which is set in 1919. War widow Verity Kent attends a house party to celebrate the engagement of one of her late husband’s friends. While there, she intends to find out who’s sending her letters hinting her husband didn’t serve honorably. Intrigue, coded letters, and a country estate on an isolated island!
I love WW1, post-WW1 stories and this one is great. A mystery with real characters in a time period often forgotten.
This Side of Murder is a great historical murder mystery set in one of my favorite time periods, the beginning of 20th century just after WW1 ended. It has a cast of interesting characters lead by our main heroine Verity, who is a war widow and a former Secret Service operative. Verity is smart, resourceful, and very likeable. The setting of This Side of Murder is very atmospheric. As I was reading I was getting Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” vibes: an isolated island, a storm, a party with a strange mix of people who start dropping dead one by one.
I found the first part of the book a little slow but as I got to the middle there was a major twist/revelation that I didn’t see coming, and from then on I couldn’t put the book down. The ending was satisfying but I still have major feels and questions about it and cannot wait for the second book to find out what’s next in store for Verity and co.
This book is the quintessential mystery. It is interesting, exciting, gripping, exciting and filled with interesting characters. The descriptions of the emotional turmoil of World War I and its aftermath on the soldiers and civilian are so strong that you feel every emotion – just as if you were there. This author’s descriptions of the heroine’s grief over the death of her husband make you feel as if it were your loss, your pain. I just can’t say enough good things about the quality of writing and the depth of the emotions in this story. I almost didn’t request it because it is for a later time period than I usually enjoy, but since I love Huber’s Lady Darby series, I thought I’d give this one a try. I am so very glad I did!
Be sure you have a clear schedule before you start reading because you won’t be able to put it down once you start reading!
Verity married at 18 just as her husband was to go off to war. They never had that time of living together that made the deep memories – the kind where you miss his toothbrush being beside yours or his razor on the sink. Their brief time together was during his short leaves when he came home from the front. They were hurried and intense – and not nearly long enough. Then, a German soldier’s bullet took his life. Verity’s grief was so intense, so painful that she tried to drown it in alcohol and frenetic, frenzied activities such as dancing.
Sidney had been dead for fifteen very long, very difficult months when she received an invitation to a house party to celebrate the engagement of one of Sidney’s life-long friends. She declines the invitation until she receives a letter that says the sender has information about Sidney being a traitor. While she knows that Sidney had been very troubled on his last few trips home, she couldn’t believe he would be a traitor – but she had to know for sure. So, she accepted the invitation and headed to the house party on a private island with about a dozen other people. Each person had some tie to Sidney or his service regiment and she had to figure out who sent the letter and find out what they know.
On the way to the ferry to take her to the island, she runs into (almost literally) Max Westfield, the Earl of Ryde. She feels an attraction to him that she hasn’t felt in over fifteen months. But, can she trust him? Is he the one who sent the letter? As she comes to know him better, she really wants to trust him, but he and his family are in a position that he could have easily been the traitor. As the party continues, the attraction grows.
Something about the party and the assembled guests doesn’t feel right to Verity. Then, the first death occurs. Jimmy Tufton was a cynic who had lost an arm in the war – and it was said that he deliberately tried to get himself killed. When he was found hanging, many thought he had committed suicide, but Verity and Max were pretty sure that wasn’t the case. Then, later the second death occurs – and that one definitely isn’t a suicide because there is a very plainly visible bullet wound in his chest. Charlie Montague was a very young man who seemed shell-shocked – and riddled with guilt. Who would be next?
There is a massive storm raging and the telephone wires have been cut, so there is no way to contact the outside world nor to escape. They are trapped on an island with at least one murderer.
Then, after the storm abates a little, the host, Walter Ponsonby is stung by several bees and he’s very, very allergic to the stings. Yes, it was also deliberate. Since everyone knew of the allergy, the unusual method didn’t bring them any closer to discovering the guilty party.
There are many twists, turns, and surprises throughout the book – and the ending is a big surprise. I had half of it figured out, but not the rest! I wish I could tell you more, but I don’t want to spoil the read for you.
I highly recommend this book and this author!
“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.”
A great first book in an exciting new series. You will love this intrepid heroine whose exploits in WWI have left her with the skills to solve a mystery concerning the death of her late husband. So many plot twists, and the ending is a total surprise.
A lovely historical mystery set after WWI. I did not see the twist coming, and I was surprised by the big reveal. Well done, Anna Lee Huber!
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Verity Kent lost her husband, Sidney, in The Great War. She has been trying to move on, probably not in the best ways, but then she receives a letter saying he may have committed treason before he was killed. The letter invites her to an engagement party for one of his fellow officers on Umbersea Island. At first, she doesn’t plan to go, but she needs to find out what proof the letter sender has. The group attending the party boards the ship to the island. Verity knows some of the attendees but realizes the mystery letter writer could be someone she knows or someone she will meet at the party. As the weekend progresses one guest is found dead and then another. She starts to believe her husband may be guilty and people are dying because of it. She is going to use everything she learned as part of the Secret Service to try to find out the truth. Hopefully, hers won’t be the next body found.
Verity Kent is a strong, smart, feisty and independent protagonist. Not even her husband knew she was working for the Secret Service during the war. She also has a really cool car! Meeting her husband’s fellow officers she finds that his battalion suffered a large number of casualties. She just can’t imagine her husband was a traitor, everything in her being tells her that is a lie. She meets Max Westfield, the Earl of Ryde, on her way to the ship, she is wary of him but as things start to spin out of control they start to work together to not only find the letter writer but a killer.
When the secondary characters are introduced we find it is a unique group. The soldiers are clearly suffering a malady of injuries, mentally and physically, setting a somber tone, but the fiancee goes over the top to create a party atmosphere. Some of the other ladies go along at first but one game idea turns the tables and fractures the group.
Ms. Huber captures the time period expertly, from the ship to the cars, the house, and the island. The imagery she creates with her words brings everything crystal clear in my mind. While reading the scenes in the pouring rain I found myself all crouched up in a blanket, like I was right there.
Basically a closed room mystery with a set number of suspects, everyone except Verity, it was not easy to solve. Everyone is hiding something. When the guests start dying, and a storm takes over the island the tension starts to rise and a surprising moment twists the story all around. This all sets up a very exciting finish.
This series is off to a marvelous start. I can wait to read Treacherous Is the Night, coming out September 25.
Don’t you love when a favorite author starts a new series, and you fall in love all over again with a new cast of characters?! So glad I got the chance to read this ARC as I’ve been anxiously awaiting the release in September. New time period (just following WW1) rather than regency (Lady Darby), but still lots of historical detail, vivid characters and compelling mystery. If you like historical mystery, try Huber. She’s great and just keeps getting better and better with each outing. Thanks NetGalley!
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
This may be my favorite so far in this series!
Well-written and exciting! I really like Verity. She’s spunky, brave, and smart. About solving a WWII mystery about treason and murder. Lots of surprising twists and turns. I thought it was a fun read that was researched well!
A fun, enchanting mystery! This story made me feel like I was Nora Charles 🙂 Love the period details & endearing heroine
My Rating: 4.5*
I absolutely love Ms. Huber’s ‘Lady Darby’ series. So when I heard she was writing a new mystery series taking place just after World War I, I knew I had to read it. I was not disappointed.
As the book description states, Verity is lured reluctantly to Umbersea Island to attend the engagement party of an old friend and fellow officer of her deceased husband, Sidney, and the few that are left of his battalion. After receiving cryptic messages that her husband may have committed treason, Verity decides to attend.
“The war might be over, but it still echoed through our lives like an endless roll of thunder.” (quote from the book)
Ms Huber’s descriptive writing lured me in and set the stage for what was to come. The cast of suspects were many, which made it difficult to determine who was behind the cryptic messages, as well as the book she sent her husband during the war that she found waiting for her on her bed at the castle. A book that concealed a hidden message. Everyone had their secrets and danger was slowly circling in. Always on the surface, no matter how hard Verity tried, was her pain over the loss of her husband.
“The image of Sidney faded, scattering in the breeze, and I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly chilled. The knife blade of grief once more cut into my breast, making me hold my breath to try to blunt the pain. I was constantly deluding myself into thinking I’d moved past this, when all I’d done was dull the point occasionally with gin and dancing and vigilance. Then something would strike me from nowhere –a whisper of resemblance in a stranger passing on the street or the smell of his cologne–and I would find myself right back here. Trying to catch my breath.” (quote from the book)
Then there was the enigmatic Max Westfield, Earl of Ryde. Now there was a character whose presence you felt. I hope we see more of him in the future.
This was a well developed mystery that had the tension slowly building toward a rather climatic ending. By the middle, I had the suspect in my sights but there was so much more I was yet to learn. I will say, that it didn’t end the way I was expecting and Ms. Huber will have to redeem a certain character in my eyes before I am won over.
I enjoyed this post WWI and pre roaring twenties set story about deceit and treason. Verity Kent is a smart young woman who has lost her husband to the war and is trying to get her life back on track when an invitation arrives. At first she turns it down, then accepts. The weekend at a castle on an island is to celebrate an old childhood friend (Walter) of her deceased husband, Sidney, and his engagement to a young and demanding woman – Helen. What at first seems like a tiresome weekend full of social interactions and lots of drinking, soon turns into a mystery involving a cryptic note left in a place personally significant to Verity. That is followed by a possible suicide, a murder, and, of course, a roaring storm which traps everyone who is still alive in the castle for an extra day. It’s up to Verity to put the pieces of this dangerous mystery together. Along the way, she joins forces with Max, the man she almost had an accident with on her drive to the harbor for the boat ride to the mysterious castle and island. There were a lot of characters to keep track of, and I did mix people up from time to time, but as the body count rose, and the backstory of her beloved Sidney came out, I began to follow along better. From the beginning I had my eye on one of the men as a bad egg, but I was confused when it came to all the young women at the three day long party. They mostly seemed superficial and childish. Boy was I fooled by one of them. Building slowly from the start, by the middle, the book took off with danger, intrigue, a huge surprise, and adventure, and I was all wrapped up in this story. I enjoyed how the author hinted at attraction between Verity and Max, yet something held Verity back. I liked how Verity was loyal to the memory of her husband and held her own when it came to the final encounter with the truly bad people. The mastermind of the plot to cover up treason no matter what the cost, including murder to keep the truth from authorities, was surprising. By the end, I was a huge fan of Verity Kent.
I’m a big fan of murder mysteries and happy endings. This book has both.
Historical mystery with a side of romance is my jam. Loved finding a new character to love in Verity!
I first noticed this author’s regency era mysteries and they seemed good. Then I noticed that she was starting a whole new series of historical mysteries and they were to be set post WWI with a clever former Secret Service heroine. Immediately, I chose to go with the shiny new series though after reading, This Side of Murder, I do very much need to go back for the older, Lady Darby series, too.
The book was an engaging blend of history and mystery with a whiff of romance. The heroine, Verity Kent, is a war widow who is living on the edge as a way to push back the shadows of grief. This island house party hosted by a friend of her dead husband is not one she would have attended save for the cryptic letter accusing Sidney of treason. Nothing feels right about the party from the atmosphere to the other guests to the hosts themselves and then someone dies…
I was bowled over by this author’s gift for time, setting, and atmosphere. I had no trouble believing this story was from the ’20s or that the characters had all been touched by the horror of war in their own ways. Verity was a character gem and I enjoyed exploring her world and watching her backstory and personality develop as things progressed. She wants to move on with her life after Sidney and the war, but she can’t seem to let go. And now there is Max who seems to awaken feelings in her even while he is also a suspect in the current situation and so cannot be trusted entirely.
The mystery was complex. It was a current murder mystery that was strongly connected to a secret past incident that ties all the house party guests together and makes them suspects. Just when I thought I had a grip on the answer there was this huge twist at the end that showed me I only had a partial answer.
All in all, I was thrilled with my first encounter with the author and her new lady sleuth. I will definitely be exploring further mysteries with Verity and also want to go back for the Lady Darby ones as well. Historical mystery fans should definitely give this a try.
Murder mystery set in 1919 England after WWI. Interesting to see how women were viewed back then & how the main character pushes back against the stereotypes of those days. Different historical setting with twists in plot.
Great story. Good twists.
Love the whole Verity Kent series!
Brings the reader to know some of the feelings/opinions of post WWI society In England. Reminds me of Agatha Christie.