Murder Most Fair by Anna Lee Huber - After wrappng up their last investigation, Verity and Sidney are enjoying a bit of a holiday and time to relax. But when Verity's Great-Aunt Ilse shows up on their doorstep, they have to confront the possibility that wartime enemies may still pose a threat. During the war, Tante Ilse lived in Germany and one of Verity's missions involved her, but now Tante Ilse claims a 'second deserter' had come to her home and that there had been threats made against her and her maid. They've come to England to escape the threats, but it seems to Verity and Sidney that the threats may have followed.
They all go to Verity's family home in Yorkshire, but some of their longtime neighbors are antagonistic and mistrustful of Germans and even of Verity. To make matters worse, Verity and Tante Ilse both think they've seen a familiar face and Tante Ilse says it is that mysterious 'second deserter'. As Verity and Sidney reach out to some contacts for more information, they must also continue to keep Verity's wartime service a secret from her family, and Verity fears Tante Ilse's memory is going. Then Ilse's maid is murdered, and it is up to Verity and Sidney to find the murderer before the people of the town take matters into their own hands in a vindictive search for a stranger that they claim is German.
In addition to the mystery and worries for Tante Ilse that are on Verity's mind, this is her first visit back to the family home in five years . . . since early in the war when her brother was killed in action. Verity has avoided the memories and grief and emotion, and her fraught relationship with her mother, and now she can't put off facing it all any longer.
From the publisher:
All is far from quiet on the home front in USA Today bestselling author Anna Lee Huber's captivating mystery series, in which former Secret Service agent Verity Kent receives a visitor - who is being trailed by a killer . . .
November 1919. A relaxing few weeks by the seaside with her husband, Sidney, could almost convince Verity Kent that life has returned to the pleasant rhythm of pre-war days. Then Verity's beloved Great-Aunt Ilse lands on their doorstep. After years in war-ravaged Germany, Ilse has returned to England to repair her fragile health―and to escape trouble. Someone has been sending her anonymous threats, and Verity's Secret Service contacts can only provide unsettling answers.
Even deep in the Yorkshire Dales, where she joins Verity's family for the holidays, Ilse encounters difficulties. Normally peaceful neighbors are hostile, seeking someone to blame for the losses they've endured. When Ilse's maid is found dead, Verity must uncover whether this is anti-German sentiment taken to murderous lengths, or whether there is a more personal motive at work. Could Verity's shadowy nemesis, Lord Ardmore, be involved? And if so, how much closer to home will the blow land when he inevitably strikes again?
By the same author: The Anatomist's Wife, Mortal Arts; A Grave Matter, A Study in Death, A Pressing Engagement, This Side of Murder, As Death Draws Near, A Brush With Shadows, Treacherous Is The Night, An Artless Demise, Secrets in the Mist, Penny for Your Secrets, A Stroke of Malice, A Pretty Deceit, A Wicked Conceit, A Perilous Perspective, A Fatal Illusion, Sisters of Fortune, A Deceptive Composition
This is a book about title with letter M (#) for The 52 Book Club's 2025 Reading Challenge.
#the52bookclub #the52bookclub2025
This is #5 in the Connections Challenge. It is within 30 pages in length, compared to the previous book.
This post will be linked at the current BookWorms Monthly link-up hosted by At Home A Lot, and at the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2025 hosted by The Intrepid Reader and Baker.
#histficreadingchallenge
This post contains affiliate links - using affiliate links from Just A Second helps supply books and coffee. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
