A Traitor In Whitehall by Julia Kelly
Thank you to St. Martin's Press for sending me a physical ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Book Synopsis
From Julia Kelly, internationally bestselling author of The Last Dance of the Debutante, comes the first in the mysterious and immersive Parisian Orphan series, A Traitor in Whitehall.
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?
My Thoughts
This is the second book I have read by Julia Kelly. The first book I read by this author was The Last Garden In England. I was very interested to read this book and see what the author would do with a mystery genre novel since the previous novel I read did have a bit of a mystery element, but was not specifically of that genre and had a different feel as it was purely a historical fiction novel.
A Traitor In Whitehall is set in London, England during World War II.
I really enjoyed the setting of the novel and the characters, especially Evelyn and her love of books and reading (specifically those detective mysteries).
I appreciated how the author highlighted the fact that Evelyne Redfern faced the issue of equality in her work among the men, especially when helping with the investigation.
Julia Kelly is so amazing at writing the setting of the novel and making the reader feel like they are right there with the protagonist of the book.
I look forward to reading more books featuring Evelyn Redfern and hopefully David Poole as well and to meeting any new characters the author introduces to the reader in this series.
My Rating
4/5
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Book Details
Author: Julia Kelly
Publisher: St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books
Publication Date: October 3, 2023
Genre: Historical Fiction. Historical. Mystery. Mystery Thriller. World War II. Cozy Mystery. Fiction. British Literature.
Edition: Paperback.
Pages: 304.
Comments