I read this back in June and forgot to come here and say that I really enjoyed it and can't wait to try another one. I really liked Verity Kent she was a good character. It's been to long to remember the book except that she gets a note and tries to find out what her hushband was up too when he died.

Verity is invited to her late husband’s best friends engagement party on his island. She hadn’t planned to go until she received a note accusing her husband of treason during the war. Also included are men from her husband’s company during the war. Shortly after the festivities begin one of the men are found hanging in the old plant apparently death by suicide. More death and surprises happen as the storm traps them on the island.
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I wasn’t a huge fan of this book. I thought it would be like Maisie Dobbs, but it just didn’t have that spark

A catchy start of a new series!
Verity Kent, a war widow, gets a strange letter with even stranger suggestions about the past of her late husband. This lures her to an island engagement party, where, complying with the best traditions of a locker room mystery, peculiar things start to happen...

This one is a smart work! Being a mystery book lover, I find it harder and harder to get engaged in a novel about secrets and murders, but this one definitely got my attention. It is witty, smart and well-written. Verity is an interesting heroine with a few unexpected tricks under her sleeve - and yes, there even is a tastely put love triangle!
And, having started a second book in the series, I can happily report that the charm stays within the novels. Fingers crossed, as I am definitely invested in this series!

Verity Kent is on her way to an engagement party of a dear friend. She is still dealing with the grief of losing her husband during WWI but she’s just received a letter that reveals a secret and perhaps casts doubt about her husband’s role in the war efforts.

Upon arriving at Umbersea Island, Verity reconnects with other friends and some who also served during the war. Soon though one of the guests will be dead but was it foul play? For those of you who enjoy locked-room mystery type settings, this is a great novel to add to your stack. I’ve read several of the author’s Lady Derby books and really enjoy those and I think Verity Kent will no doubt become another favorite because the ending had quite a development and I definitely want to find out what happens next.

Someone is killing off the survivors of Thirtieth division!

Set just after the war in England in 1919. Verity Kent's husband Sidney had been killed during action. Now the war is over the rudderless, fragile Verity has been filling her nights with mindless parties and dubious nightclubbing with the upper crust set. Verity had, "gotten rather good at avoiding [memories]. At calculating just how many rags [she] needed to dance, and how much gin [she] needed to drink so [she] could forget, and yet not be too incapacitated to perform [her] job the following morning."
Verity is lured to the engagement party of a fellow officer of Sidney's by a letter not only claiming Sidney had committed treason but that Verity had been an agent with the Secret Service, a fact few people, including her husband, knew about. The engagement/house party is on Umbersea Island. A near car crash with Verity driving Sidney's beloved "currant-red with brass fittings" Pierce-Arrow in the opening scenes introduces Max Westfield, the Earl of Ryde and sets the scene for the up coming days. In many ways this is an omen of things to come. As bodies begin to pile up, the guests find themselves trapped on the island. Verity and Max search for answers. Verity finds herself facing news from her past that stops her in her tracks. The path to the truth is torturous and confusing. Who to trust? And when things come home to roost, can Verity recover from what she discovers?
A rather slick whodunnit with a momentous twist in the tail that has no trouble conjuring the post war era and thrillers of that ilk.
I enjoyed this immensely, despite the quandary Verity finds herself in, and the confusion, indeed shock, that I and Verity are faced with. To my mind, how and where Verity will go from here becomes the greater mystery!
(How this review slipped through the net I'm unsure. Verity Kent continues to be somewhat of an enigma)

A Kensington Books ARC via NetGalley

This mystery is set in post WWI England. A widow after the war, had received a letter suggesting that Sidney had been involved with treason., Verity Kent attends an engagement party for one of her husband's friends. Tensions emerge, and events become both strained and strange. Before the end, a real traitor is revealed, and Verity must confront a new reality.

I fairly enjoyed this atmospheric mystery set during WWI. The writing and storyline was clever. The heroine Verity was likable. An the sense of place was very well done. The mystery itself felt very Agatha Christi-eqsue in places.

The ending however left me a little... put out. It felt more appropriate to a soap opera than the stylish mystery this had been up to that point.

Even so... I am looking forward to reading the next in the series.

I really enjoyed the first in a new series featuring Verify Kane. Set right after the end of World War I in England, this book is very reminiscent of Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None". Same type of feel and situation. I enjoyed the author's character developments and the setting, aplomb with the intermingling of several smaller plots. Very enjoyable. I look forward to more in this series and recommend the book.

I would like to thank the author/publisher/Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The book is well written and the characters' voices are strong but also seem true to the year (1919). The author does a great job of conveying feelings - post WWI going into the 1920s. Some of the story seemed a bit predictable but the writer is great and given the characters/setting, the negatives can be ignored.

This novel is twisty-good fun! It started out casually enough, setting the post-WWI upper crust scene well with an assortment of gin-loving, dance-happy characters, then went all kinds of directions I wasn't expecting. A great example of the island-in-a-storm subgenre of classic mysteries.

A really great read with wonderful writing and excellent characterization. It was a breath of fresh air and a compelling book.

I only read the first two lines of the book description....

"England, 1919. Verity Kent’s grief over the loss of her husband pierces anew when she receives a cryptic letter, suggesting her beloved Sidney may have committed treason before his untimely death. Determined to dull her pain with revelry, Verity’s first impulse is to dismiss the derogatory claim. But the mystery sender knows too much—including the fact that during the war, Verity worked for the Secret Service, something not even Sidney knew."
.... And I was hooked. Already you have a period drama in post World War I with love and intrigue.
I found that Ms. Huber's writing style reminded me of Agatha Christie in the way she describes small details and with the introductions to the characters.I was swept into the story very quickly and left guessing until the end. I highly recommend this novel!

I stumbled across the authors Lady Darby series years ago, and was always anxiously awaiting the next installment. I am overjoyed that she has tried a new time and setting for this new series. It was an easy story to fall into, and again, she has introduced a strong, intriguing, female heroine. Huber took on the classic British mystery, and delivered a strong installment. Can't wait for the next book!

While it was a decent mystery the storyline itself was chaotic and jumpy and the characters didn't have much in the way of "on page" chemistry.

Set in the early 1900's, This Side of Murder is a fresh new series for Anna Lee Huber. Huber has always been my go-to for historical mysteries, and I will definitely say that she is my favorite. I was not disappointed in the least by the new start to the series, and can't wait for the second book!

RATINGS: 4 STARS
(I received an ARC from the NETGALLEY )
(Review Not on Blog)

I have been wanting to read Anna Lee Huber for a few years but could never get my hands on the first book (well, at the price I could afford). Alas, I finally have the first book (yay!). Before then, I saw that This Side of Murder was book one in a new series. I was excited when my request was approved and dove into this one.

Verity is a World War I war widow. The loss of her late husband, Sidney, is renewed when she receives an anonymous letter vaguely stated that her husband may have committed treason before he died. She would love to dismiss this note, but the sender is aware that Verity actually worked for the Secret Service. Very few knew about this, not even Sidney. She feels she must uncover the truth and accepts the invitation to Sidney's fellow officer. As soon as she steps onto the island she senses this may be a bad idea, but she wasn't expecting it to be so dangerous...and heartbreaking.

I love historical mysteries, and this one was right up my alley. It is more than a cozy mystery as it is pretty realistic, but also is not graphic. I loved the characters and emotions. This one reminds me of Maisie Dobbs series.

I really liked the beginning of the mystery that takes place right after WWI, but the ending was too unbelievable for me.

This is a nice beginning to a new series. I find that I haven't read as much historical fiction about WWI, so I found that information interesting. The author does a good job at combining romance and mystery into a strong story.

At first, Widow Verity Kent refuses an invitation to an engagement party on the island of Umbersea. The party is for one of her late husband's fellow officers, and she is afraid it will be too painful. But then she gets a letter suggesting her husband, Sydney, might have convicted treason before his death, she knows she needs to go and see if she can figure out the truth.

The other party attendees all have a connection to Sydney, and Verity, who worked for the Secret Service during the war, mingles with them to try and find out the truth of things. But when people start dying, Verity knows she has to get to the bottom of things before she's added to the list of people not leaving the island alive.

Filled with twists and turns, This Side of Murder features a carefully plotted mystery. But the first part of the book was slow for me. After the first murder it picked up, and the last part was one of those turn the page endings where I couldn't wait to see what was happening.

The ending of this story was realistic and satisfying, and it left me wanting to read more from this series.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.