ARC Review: Penny for Your Secrets by Anna Lee Huber

Penny for Your Secrets
Author: Anna Lee Huber
Series: A Verity Kent Mystery (Book 3)
Publication: Kensington (October 29, 2019)

Description: England, 1919. In Anna Lee Huber’s latest mystery, former Secret Service agent Verity Kent is finding that life after wartime offers its own share of danger . . .

The Great War may be over, but for many, there are still obstacles on the home front. Reconciling with her estranged husband makes Verity sympathetic to her friend Ada’s marital difficulties. Bourgeois-bred Ada, recently married to the Marquess of Rockham, is overwhelmed trying to navigate the ways of the aristocracy. And when Lord Rockham is discovered shot through the heart with a bullet from Ada’s revolver, Verity fears her friend has made a fatal blunder.

While striving to prove Ada’s innocence, Verity is called upon for another favor. The sister of a former Secret Service colleague has been killed in what authorities believe was a home invasion gone wrong. The victim’s war work—censoring letters sent by soldiers from the front—exposed her to sensitive, disturbing material. Verity begins to suspect these two unlikely cases may be linked. But as the connections deepen, the consequences—not just for Verity, but for Britain—grow more menacing than she could have imagined.

My Thoughts: The third Verity Kent mystery has Verity and her husband Sydney trying to find out who killed Lord Rockham who is the husband of one of Verity's friends from her wartime service. The evidence points to her friend Ada but Verity doesn't want to believe that she killed her husband. But Ada isn't the same woman as she was during the war. She and her husband were fighting and she was flaunting a new titled lover. Sydney wonders what Verity ever saw in her that made her a friend.

While she is investigating Lord Rockham's death, another friend comes to ask her to look into the suspicious death of her half-sister. Gradually, Verity and Sydney come to believe that the two events are related and come as a result of something mysterious that happened during the war.

The story is filled with action as Sydney and Verity travel to France and the Isle of Wight to track down some of their clues. They become convinced that there is still a mastermind behind the murders and that the mastermind might not be finished cleaning up some loose ends.

I enjoyed the setting of this story. I liked Verity who isn't willing to go back to the restricted life of an upper class matron after proving herself as a spy during the war. I like that she is fighting to rebuild her relationship with her husband Sydney who, if he fought in a more modern war, would likely have been diagnosed with PTSD. I could feel Verity's concern for her husband and frustration that she didn't know how to help him deal with the trauma of his service.

Favorite Quote:

Especially when he proceeded to kiss me like I was the air and he was drowning. He pushed the sketchbook to the floor as his mouth inched over my skin and he peeled every layer from between us. Everything but the pain he would not give up, and my disquiet that he never would.

I got this one for review from Amazon Vine. You can buy your copy here.