A Traitor in Whitehall
A Mystery
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4.5 • 35 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
From Julia Kelly, internationally bestselling author of The Last Dance of the Debutante, comes the first in the mysterious and immersive Evelyne Redfern series, A Traitor in Whitehall.
"Kelly spins an Agatha Christie-esque mystery . . . thoroughly delightful and well-researched."—Susan Elia MacNeal
1940, England: Evelyne Redfern, known as “The Parisian Orphan” as a child, is working on the line at a munitions factory in wartime London. When Mr. Fletcher, one of her father’s old friends, spots Evelyne on a night out, Evelyne finds herself plunged into the world of Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s cabinet war rooms.
However, shortly after she settles into her new role as a secretary, one of the girls at work is murdered, and Evelyne must use all of her amateur sleuthing expertise to find the killer. But doing so puts her right in the path of David Poole, a cagey minister’s aide who seems determined to thwart her investigations. That is, until Evelyne finds out David’s real mission is to root out a mole selling government secrets to Britain’s enemies, and the pair begrudgingly team up.
With her quick wit, sharp eyes, and determination, will Evelyne be able to find out who’s been selling England’s secrets and catch a killer, all while battling her growing attraction to David?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This action-packed yet unconvincing series launch from Kelly (The Last Garden in England) unfolds against the backdrop of WWII London. Factory worker Evelyne Redfern is recruited by family friend Lionel Fletcher, an intelligence operative, to join the typing pool in Winston Churchill's underground cabinet war rooms. The government suspects there's a mole in the subterranean complex who's selling secrets to the Germans, and Mr. Fletcher tasks Evelyne with reporting back to officials about any suspicious goings-on. During her first day on the job, Evelyne stumbles across the body of one of her coworkers, who has been stabbed to death. Judging the officers assigned to the case incompetent, Evelyne, an avid mystery reader, decides to investigate herself. She joins forces with Ministry of Information operative David Poole to look into both the murder and the intelligence leak, and winds up nearly taking over the entire case. Though the world has always been bursting with intelligent, independent, and forceful women, Evelyne—whose brazenness receives shockingly little pushback from her male colleagues—strains believability to the limit, and Kelly, who's delivered wonderful WWII mysteries in the past, struggles to conjure the period here. Unraveling the mystery has its pleasures, but this doesn't quite land.
Customer Reviews
I need MORE.MORE.MORE. Fantastic read
I can not express how happy I was when I opened this page and saw that A Traitor in Whitehall is book one in a series. A. Series. OMG!! OMG!!! There is more to come. Happy Dance!!! I can't wait to see what Evelyn Redfern, the Parisian Orphan, gets up to next. I was excited to read this book because it was WW2 historical fiction. I soon found out it was that, but it is sooooooo much more.
There is something going on underground in Churchill's domain. Information is being leaked. Secrets are landing in the hands of the enemy. Details are being aired over the radio. Who does such a horrid thing? That is what is going through Evelyn's mind when she is recruited by Mr. Fowler.
She is to take a job as a pool typist in the Churchill's war rooms. She is to observe and report. She is to listen and report. She is to remain behind the scenes as she helps to uncover a traitor.
What wasn't expected was to stumble on a murder. What wasn't in the job description was to be locked in a room with a dead body. The story gets very interesting as she attempts to unravel the many comings and goings deep underground.
She soon finds herself working side by side with David Poole. He isn't who he pretends to be either. His secret won't be hidden for much longer. Truths are soon exposed. The dynamic between the two of them added a lot to the story. There was a lot of back and forth and opinions are strong. It was a great reminder of how different things were during that time period. We should not compare today's values to those during WW2.
It was such a rush to ride along as Evelyn and David discover what has been going on. How in the world did so much go in such a secure area? MIND BLOWING!!! I thought I had it figured out. They thought they had it figured out. We were all so wrong. What a rush. I was shocked into silence. Excitement grew.
The story was thrill after another. Details of what was happening all over England made the crimes even more hideous. I couldn't wait for them discover the mastermind. I refused to stop reading until I knew. I was almost as dedicated as they were as they left no stone unturned.
Highly Recommend!
Miss Redfern had worked in a royal ordnance factory before being offered a job in the typing pool for Prime Minister Churchill’s secret underground bunker by one of her parent’s friends.
When Miss Redfern is instructed to go for the required sun lamp treatments, she finds Jean dead, a fellow typist, and when she tries to leave, the door is locked. When Miss Redfern screams to get the door to open, the police are called to investigate. When she informs her boss, Miss Wilkes, she doesn’t seem surprised. Could she be linked or know who killed her?
When Miss Redfern is asked to carry out some of Jean’s duties, will she get some insight into who killed her? This book will have you turning the pages as the secrets are revealed to find out who killed Jean!
Julia Kelly’s writing just draws you into the story. Her research into the characters and storyline are evident as she creates a well thought out and entertaining mystery, while including what it was like to be a woman working during WWII, especially as a typist in Churchill’s secret underground bunker. What will be next for Miss Redfern? I look forward to reading the next book in the series! A highly entertaining book that is hard to put down and should be added to your TBR list! A great book club pick as well as it will lead to many great discussions!