Recent Reads - A Certain Darkness

A Certain Darkness by Anna Lee Huber - If Verity and Sidney thought they were going to get some downtime and a refreshing break from investigations and intrigue, they were mistaken. Verity has had a little time to recuperate after the injuries suffered in their last investigation, and agrees to go with Sidney when French authorities contact him saying that a prisoner has requested a meeting with him. A woman that had been an informant during the war had been imprisoned in France and specifically asked to speak to Sidney in an attempt to negotiate her sentence, and claimed she had information she would only pass on to him. Verity's experience in British intelligence comes into play as she recognizes Miss Baverel's ploys and suspects where she is speaking in "code" and where her weaknesses may lie. After their meeting with Miss Baverel, they consider what to do with the vaguely worded claims she made, but before they can see her again, she is assassinated and it's meant to look like a suicide and also casts suspicion on Verity.

Sidney and Verity decide to travel to Miss Baverel's home to follow up on a hunch, and find they are in danger - someone is following them and means them harm. About this time, Verity receives contact from her former British Intelligence superiors, asking her to investigate the murder of a Belgian lawyer who had also worked with British Intelligence. He had been carrying a report with shocking information and evidence of potential treason, and it is missing. British Intelligence wants Verity to find the portfolio and destroy it. Despite many qualms about the investigation, Sidney and Verity take on the challenge, and soon question whether the two situations are actually linked. Was the information Miss Baverel claimed to have related to the missing report, and is their nemesis Lord Ardmore involved in both?

This mystery involves more espionage and secret statecraft than the previous ones and I found it a challenge to follow the different threads and links in the chain as Sidney and Verity unravel it. The personal dangers and impossible choices they face, and the ramifications of the information in the missing report being made public are immense, and this adventure is fraught with suspense and intrigue.

From the publisher:

March 1920: Life has turned unsettlingly quiet for former British Intelligence agent Verity Kent and her husband, Sidney. But even that false calm is about to end. As threats remain, the French authorities soon request Sidney's help with a suspect who claims to have proof of treason―shortly before she is assassinated. And Verity, too, is called to investigate a mystery . . .

The murder of a Belgian lawyer aboard a train seems at first to be a simple case of revenge. But the victim was connected to British Intelligence, and possessed papers detailing the sinking of a gold-laden German ship during the war.

As Verity and Sidney dig deeper, they discover their cases are intertwined―and a lethal adversary persists. Officially, the Great War may be over, but this is a battle of nerves and wits they cannot afford to lose . . .

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, Murder Most Fair

This is a book featuring a conspiracy (#5) for The 52 Book Club's 2026 Reading Challenge.

#the52bookclub #the52bookclub2026

This is related to "crime" for Prompt #2 of the February Mini-Challenge

This is #8 in the Connections Challenge. The cover shares an item from the cover of the previous book (the railing). (I'm continuing the connections from the 2025 challenge)

This post will be linked at the current BookWorms Monthly link-up hosted by At Home A Lot.

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