ARC Review: Betrayal at Blackstone Park by Julia Kelly

Betrayal at Blackstone Park
Author: Julia Kelly
Series: Evelyne Redfern (Book 2)
Publication: Minotaur Books (October 1, 2024)

Description: With mystery, intrigue, and the hints of romance international bestselling author Julia Kelly is known for, Evelyne Redfern returns in Betrayal at Blackthorn Park.

Freshly graduated from a rigorous training program in all things spy craft, former typist Evelyne Redfern is eager for her first assignment as a field agent helping Britain win the war. However, when she learns her first task is performing a simple security test at Blackthorn Park, a requisitioned manor house in the sleepy Sussex countryside, she can’t help her initial disappointment. Making matters worse, her handler is to be David Poole, a fellow agent who manages to be both strait-laced and dashing in annoyingly equal measure. However, Evelyne soon realizes that Blackthorn Park is more than meets the eye, and an upcoming visit from Winston Churchill means that security at the secret weapons research and development facility is of the utmost importance.

When Evelyne discovers Blackthorn Park’s chief engineer dead in his office, her simple assignment becomes more complicated. Evelyne must use all of her―and David’s―detection skills to root out who is responsible and uncover layers of deception that could change the course of the war.

My Thoughts: Evelyne Redfern, fresh from her training to be a spy, is assigned to investigate thefts at Blackthorn Park where unique new weapons are being developed to help England win the war. Since her first case involved solving a murder, she is a bit disappointed. She's even more disappointed to discover that David Poole is to be her handler. 

Things go wrong almost from the first. She arrives for her first scoping of the scene to discover the very recently shot Sir Nigel Belram, the chief engineer, in his office. The death was staged to look like a suicide, but Evelyne doesn't believe it. She immediately calls David who rushes to the scene. He isn't pleased to leave fieldwork to become a handler. 

As the two try to unravel the strange happenings at Blackthorn Park, the clock is ticking. Sir Winston Churchill is expecting to attend a weapons demonstration in just a few days. Since many of the weapons are failing to perform adequately, the pair need to find out why and unravel which of the scientists might have wanted Sir Nigel dead. 

There are a lot of suspicious characters at Blackthorn Park. The place seethes with professional jealousies and some romantic jealousies too as Sir Nigel was a rather noted cad. 

This was an entertaining mystery. I like that Evelyne is a mystery lover herself and well-read in the genre. She does manage to get some hints to help her solve her current crime from some of the books she has read. David is also a mystery fan, but he prefers the hard-boiled American variety. 

Fans of mysteries set during World War II will enjoy meeting Evelyne and David. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.