An Amazon Editors’ Pick for Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense (June 2025)
“There’s a definite swoon factor from the love and espionage angle here―readers will be reminded of Hitchcock’s Notorious (1946) and Curtiz’s Casablanca as Electra uses all her skills to once again thwart the secret plans of the Nazis. A rip-roaring finale for a terrific series.”―Booklist (Starred Review)
“Satisfying . . . Weaver manages to tie up the series’ loose ends without shortchanging the core chase plot. Readers will miss Electra and her cohort, but Weaver has given them a worthy send-off.”―Publishers Weekly
I have been following this series from the beginning so you can check out the reviews of the previous books. Perhaps the title gives it away, but this is the fifth and final installment in the Electra McDonnell series. While it isn't necessary to read the prior books in the series, it will make this book that much more meaningful to know Electra's growth and the dynamics between her and former boss Major Ramsey.
Find out how this final novel stands up, particularly as a closing to the series.
1) A Peculiar Combination (click here)
2) A Key to Deceit (click here)
3) Playing it Safe (click here)
4) Locked in Pursuit (click here)
Guest post 2021 (click here)
Copyright: June 2025 (Minotaur Books) 304 pgs
Series: 5th in Electra McDonnell Mysteries
Sensuality: mild
Mystery Sub-genre: Historical espionage, historical suspense
Main Character: Ellie McDonnell, former safe-cracker now a spy for Britain
Setting: 1940s (WWII) Lisbon, Portugal
Obtained Through: Library find
Book Blurb: "Ellie McDonnell is about to embark on her most perilous mission yet: go to Lisbon, Portugal to save her beloved cousin Toby who has reportedly escaped from a German prisoner of war camp. Toby has been missing since the Battle of Dunkirk and Ellie had all but lost hope in ever seeing him again until Major Ramsey, the British military intelligence officer she had been working closely with over the past few months, shared the news he’d intercepted.
Nothing will stop Ellie from finding her cousin, not even the awkward experience of having to travel to an unknown country with Ramsey after he’d dismissed her for being untrustworthy just as she’d realized she had fallen in love with him. Under the supervision of Captain Archie Blandings, a charming intelligence officer based in Lisbon, Ellie meets with undercover operatives to track down where Toby might be hiding from the Nazis and whether they are too late to safely recover him, all the while fighting her feelings for Ramsey and the incessant burden of war looming around her at every turn."
My Thoughts:
Electra is sassy, brave, and determined to do whatever it takes to get Toby back. She is ensure and full of doubts working alongside Major Ramsey again.
Lisbon-based Captain Archie Blandings is charming and enigmatic. He who recruited Ellie to assist in finding the escape route and protect it from the Germans.
Major Ramsey, a British intelligence officer who was her handler, is stern and appears to be cold. But still waters run deep in his case.
Having been fired by Major Ramsay, Electra goes on a mission without him, hoping to find her missing cousin. Portugal is a hotbed of intrigue and Electra finds out quickly just how dangerous it is. Excellent plot.
The main story has Ellie going to Lisbon to try to locate her cousin, Toby, who is missing in action but reportedly escaped a German POW camp. Toby and a few fellow prisoners have possibly made their way through an escape route toward Lisbon. The mission is to contact members of the resistance aiding escapees and get them to safety while also keeping the route a secret.
Ramsey and Elle work frantically to track down and confirm rumors about the POWs while racing against the Germans. The Germans are intent on capturing the escapees to extract info about the route used to escape German territory and shut it down, no matter the human cost.
This novel continues the secondary story line of Ellie trying to uncover the truth of her deceased parents' past. Her mother supposedly killed her father, but this novel reveals the truth of her father’s death.
The story contains lots of action without overdoing it, lock-picking and clandestine meetings, and lightning fast thinking on their feet. some violence is a part of the story, descriptions are not graphic though.
The wrap-up has all the remaining threads neatly worked out, plus Ellie finds the truth about her parents in an unexpected and tense scene. Very well done there. The final wrap-up was so satisfying and what, I dare say, most readers wanted.
The mystery/mission itself was plausible and contains danger and a ticking clock. The action scenes are well done and riveting, with an exotic setting and solid plot. It is an overall truly good suspense-intrigue mystery. Great fun and most satisfying.
I ask the author, Ashley Weaver, to please continue writing this series as self published. There is more that Electra and Major Ramsey can do! I am honestly bummed that this is the last book and I always looked forward to the next in the series.
Here is an interview with the author about this final book in the series:
THANK YOU for reading this blog and please recommend to friends and family who will enjoy it.
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