This side of Murder by Anna Lee Huber is a 2017 publication.

Just after the Great War, Verity, who lost her husband, Sidney, in the war, has been invited to the engagement party of one of Sidney’s fellow officers. Upon arrival, Verity is shocked to find a copy of ‘The Pilgram’s Progress’- the book she had given to Sidney, in her room. Inspecting the book, she finds a hidden, encrypted missive along with a suggestion her husband was a traitor.

On alert, Verity is determined to discover who is accusing her husband of such a heinous crime. It becomes immediately clear that something untoward was going on with the thirtieth division- and now, cut off from civilization, anyone who might know the truth is being eliminated. Not knowing who to trust, Verity must tread carefully, or she could be next!

A wonderfully entertaining mystery! Just what I was in the mood for. I really liked Verity, the surprise twists, set time and place, and the way everything came together in the end. I started this book back in November but was surprised by a few last-minute Thanksgiving developments so I opted to put it aside until I could truly focus on it and I’m glad I did. It was worth waiting for!

The story is well thought out and for a first in a series the author did an amazing job of putting all the characters into their positions and giving us plenty of incentives to catch the next installment….

Which I hope to do- sooner rather than later!!

4 plus stars ( )

A plot that strains belief (and my tolerance for this is high) but I liked Verity and the post WWI period. Will pick up the next one. ( )

1919. Umbersea Island, England.

Verity had declined the invitation to a weekend house party to celebrate an engagement. An enigmatic note suggesting Verity’s husband committed treason changed her decision, becoming determined to set her widow’s grief aside. She’ll be surrounded by her husband’s fellow officers as one is the groom-to-be, and this might be her only chance to learn who would make such an accusation. Not even Sidney knew she worked for the Secret Service during the war, so it adds complexity that the note writer alluded to her secret too.

Having recently watched Agatha Christie’s "And Then There Were None," television mini-series (released in 2015), I matched the author’s atmospheric writing to the images of the film’s island setting and the isolation from the mainland during a storm. I was entranced by the mystery and intrigued by the twists of red herrings. Suspense was heightened with more secrets than anticipated. Differences in experiences dependent on an individual’s role at home or abroad, on or off the battlefield, the impact of experiences, and how each person copes with the physical and/or mental aftereffects and memories are well portrayed.

Perhaps I was never meant to warm to the reveal of an unexpected character as I had grown fond of another party guest. I’ll continue to read the series as I’m anxious to know what path Verity chooses for her future. It was easy to picture this intelligent and independent woman working for the Secret Service, but I think she’ll choose more than romance as the intrigue in her life. ( )

Verity Kent is invited to a house party to celebrate the engagement of Walter (a good friend of her dead husband) and Helen, a wealthy young woman. She decides not to go until she receives a letter from an unknown that implies that her husband was a traitor during the just-ended war. Once she arrives, in addition to Walter and Helen, she meets Felix, Max, Sam, Charlie, and Jimmy, all former soldiers in the Thirtieth infantry company--the same one in which her husband served--along with Sam's fiance, Mabel, and two of Helen's friends. Most of the men are suffering from some disability acquired during the war, some suffering more than others. When Jimmy and Charlie are found dead in two separate incidents, Verity questions even more why these particular people were brought together. She and Max begin investigating. ( )

Slow going, lots of pining for her husband. DNF ( )