Anna Lee Huber wrote in her author's notes that this was a difficult story to write, which was not surprising to me , as I found it rather difficult to read. Though not in a bad way. I suppose I should say it was a very uncomfortable story to read.

My memories of the first Verity Kent book were that it had a little murder mystery, a lot of sadness and gin, but the main mystery surrounded Verity's husband, Sidney. I remember enjoying it, but not the details. Conversely, I feel like the specifics of Treacherous Is the Night will stay with me for quite some time.

There is so much grief and angst and guilt amid Verity and Sidney's relationship that it's almost physically painful at times. Having read much of the author's previous novels, I had a feeling what the resolution would be, but getting there punched me in the gut and bruised my heart.

And yet I can't wait to read book 3.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

"Treacherous Is the Night" by Anna Lee Huber is the second book in the series. Fans of Huber's Lady Darby series will also enjoy her newest Verity Kent Series. Taking place in post World War I England, Anna explores the tragedy of loss and how that loss was dealt with (or not) by those impacted by and who survived the war. Verity, who was a spy during the war has to confront her decisions and actions while serving her country and how much to share with her recently "resurrected" husband. Together, Verity and Sidney, must solve the mystery surrounding the disappearance of a fellow spy Verity had contact with during the war and attempt to avert another tragedy in Belgium.
Huber's done her research and artfully intertwines the role of La Dame Blanche during the war and the devastation of war torn Belgium into this story. Her characters are multidimensional and complex. I very much enjoyed this book and look forward to the next installment.

I am a big fan of Ms. Huber's Lady Darby series, but had not read the first book in the Verity Kent series. I didn't feel lost at all reading this one. Though the immediate post-WWI time period is not one I tend to read, Ms. Huber has the ability to make anything interesting! In this story Verity agrees, grudgingly, to attend a seance with a friend. The medium "channels" a woman Verity worked with in the Secret Service during the war, but Verity isn't convinced the woman is dead. When the medium turns up dead, Verity's investigation as to the whereabouts of her friend hit a brick wall. Agents she formerly worked with refuse to help her, so she heads to Belgium with her husband, Sidney, in tow. As they work together, they discover just how much each has changed, but as danger closes in they have to depend on each other. While I still give the edge to the Lady Darby series, this is beautifully written with very well drawn characters and I truly enjoyed it. Thanks to #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this one, all opinions are my own. Recommended!

Characters are further developed in this second book of the series. Usually a second book can be a let down but not this one!! Greater depth to characters and story. Verity and Stanley are evolving as is their relationship. WW1 is further explored from each of their experiences. Can't wait for the next book!!!

It's 1919, and although the Great War is finished, many memories of the horrors linger. Spiritualism surges in popularity as people try to connect with lost loved ones, and even skeptical Verity Kent is coerced into attending a seance. This session triggers an alarming series of events, threatening people Verity cares about, and raising suspicion about who is to be trusted. An excellent addition to this new historical mystery series.

WOW! Treacherous is the Night by Anna Lee Huber is an amazing historical mystery. One of a kind that has everything that you want in a whodunnit style. The story is about Verity Kent who attends a seance with a friend who hopes to hear from her brother. Instead she hears from a woman who was a former spy with her in the Secret Service. The medium, must have inside information because Verity does not believe her friend is dead. Off she goes with her once was dead husband, Sydney to Belgium. The story is amazingly accurate with the descriptions and the author does a great deal to offer the reader enough history to understand this novel without reading others first. Verity and Sydney’s relationship was very raw and exposed. I love this book and am giving it 5 stars ⭐️ out of 5.

Thank you to netgalley as well as the author for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Anna Lee Huber began a new series last year when This Side of Murder was published. In Treacherous is the Night, the second novel featuring Verity Kent, the author hits her stride.

The reader learns early on that Verity was an agent in La Dame Blanche, a resistance and intelligence group, during WWI. This story has to do with events that had their origin in that time.

At the beginning of the novel, Verity, although not a believer, attends a seance with a friend who hopes to contact her brother. For those who don't know, attending seances was common after the war. The medium appears to channel an agent with whom Verity worked during the war. From this point on, the novel is a hunt for clues to find Emilie and to prevent a tragedy. While the reader assumes that, since this is a series, Verity will survive, the author should be credited for creating suspense in her narrative.

There is a reason to read the books in order. SPOILER: This has to do with what happened to Verity's husband, something the reader learns in the first novel. However, if the reader is willing to move forward, there is no reason that this novel cannot be read first.

I gave This Side of Murder three *** and am happy to give the new novel four. I enjoyed spending time with the main characters in this book and look forward to meeting up with Verity, Sidney and the rest of the crew in the future.

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher.

I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley.

I'm already a fan of Huber's Lady Darby series (set in the 1830s), and enjoyed the first book in this series (set in the aftermath of WWI) as well. The second book in this series (Verity Kent) is stronger than the first. In it, we learn more about Verity's spy work during WWI, and also spend a good deal of time with Verity and her recently-returned-from-the-presumed-dead husband, Sidney, as they get reacquainted with each other and try to figure out whether they make sense as a couple anymore. The settings are vivid, the plotting fast-paced and exciting, and the relationship between Verity and Sidney is raw and real. I'm already looking forward to more in the series!

Tracherous Is the Night by Anna Lee Huber is a splendid historical mystery.
Fifteen months after being pronaunced dead Verity's husband returns home and becomes something of a war hero. Verity on the other hand has just been let go of her position in the secret service. They both are again getting to know each other and feel that they are stranges to each other.
Her friend Daphne begs her to attend spiritualist seance with her so that the medium can summon her dead brother. Verity goes against her better judgement and has a most unpleasant and disturbing experience. When she comes back the next day intent of confronting the medium she finds her dead in the burning house.
Post WWI Britain all cloak and dagger and extremely mysterious. Realisticaly portraied characters and life after the great war. It shows how everyone is affected and how they are struggling to seemingly normal life after the disaster.
Well written story with a nice flow with many twists ans turns to keep reader entertained.

Treacherous is the Night is all about secrets – secrets from during the Great War, secrets lingering after the war, but especially the secrets hovering between Verity and Sidney Kent. Which ones will be revealed and settled first? Will some of them turn out to be unsolvable?

One really, really needs to have read the first book in the series, written by Anna Lee Huber, to know what’s driving much of the plot of this one. (And you should, anyway.) In a nutshell: Verity Kent was employed by the British Secret Service during the war, and participated in missions behind enemy lines. In the meantime, her husband, Sidney Kent, front-line British Army officer, is presumed dead – for 15 months. But he isn’t, and his coming back to life, as it were, the coverup and lies involved in that scenario, and the changes it brings to the Kent’s relationship, drive much of the plot of the book – as much a romance as it is a historical mystery.

That’s doesn’t take up all the pages of Treacherous is the Night, though. More importantly, Verity needs to find out why a “partner in spying” has sent her a cryptic message via a London-based medium, Madame Zozza. Verity has questions that need answers, but before she can ask the spiritualist, the woman is killed in a fire. Well, nothing keeps a good woman down, so with the help of her husband and several of her colleagues in the spy biz, Verity is off to Belgium to find her friend and determine what’s really going on. The outcome of that brings about a terrifying conclusion, as the good guys chase the bad guys. Along the way, readers also find out Mrs. Kent’s Big Secret, which anyone with half a brain should have figured out anyway.

All is revealed, of course, while Verity and Sidney sort out their feelings. The ending reveals the direction the series will be taking.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of the book, in exchange for this review.

This second Verity Kent mystery is evocative of and sensitive to the post World War One atmosphere in Europe and the anguish of many of the returning soldiers. Part romance, part mystery and part war story, it's a great read.

Former intelligence operative Verity Kent believed her husband Sidney died in battle. She lost herself in wartime work to forget, and was impervious to danger because after his death she didn't care whether she lived or died.

But (see book #1) he did return. Much of the strength of this book lies in the couple's struggle to regain the intimacy they once shared and for each of them to forget the trauma of the war and to build a new life together.

Meanwhile an odd mystery challenges them. Verity reluctantly attends a seance with a friend, only to have the medium mention an old intelligence ally that no one should have known about, and to mention that she needed help.

Verity begins tracing back through the years to find this woman. Her journey, which takes them to battle-scarred France and Belgium, makes the couple both confront old ghosts and past fears.

Terrific setting and great characterizations set this apart. Thanks to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in return for my honest review.

TREACHEROUS IS THE NIGHT (September 25th 2018 by Kensington Publishing Corporation) by Anna Lee Huber is the second novel in the Verity Kent Mystery series.

Verity Kent is reluctantly attending a séance when the medium passes along a purported message from one of the spies she worked with during the Great War. When the medium dies in a mysterious fire the next day, Verity decides that she must travel to Belgium to seek out her former associate, Emilie. Despite his reluctance to return to the scene of the war - and the fragile state of their marriage - Verity's recently returned husband, Sidney, agrees to accompany Verity on her mission. With help from some of her former associates in the Secret Service, Verity transverses the war torn country as she follows clues and narrowly escapes assassins.

TRECHEROUS IS THE NIGHT is a magnificent follow up to THIS SIDE OF MURDER. The second novel picks up a few weeks after the first one ended, and it continues with the reconciliation between Verity and Sidney. Their relationship is in a very fragile state, and they spend the novel reconciling and getting to known each other again. Their marriage is a wonderful portrayal of the countless relationships that were affected by the war.

The reader also learn much more about Verity's assignments with the Secret Service during the Great War - particularly work she did with the intelligence network known as La Dame Blanche, as well as her collaborations with an agent who was working undercover in the German army. The more I learn about Verity's secret war work, the more fascinating she becomes.

Huber also brings the characters, the locations, and the time period to life through her rich prose. The imagery that Huber creates within the novel is intensely vivid and descriptive. It is clear that she did a lot of research into... well, everything related to the Great War and the aftermath. Huber portrays the repercussions of the Great War, and the toll it took on the people and the landscape, in a very realistic and sympathetic manner. The reader gets to experience Sidney's anguish as he returns to the Western Front, as well as the suffering of the people of Belgium and France who lived near the trenches. The Great War may have ended, but it will take a long time for the people and places to recover and repair from the devastation.

Really enjoy this series, Verity and Sidney are both very likeable characters and I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

Treacherous is the night is about a woman named Verity Kent who used to work for the secret service. Verity discovers one night while attending a séance that a woman she worked on missions with in the past, who she only knows as "Emilie" is in serious danger and sets off on a mission to save her.

Never have I fallen in love with a character any more than Verity. She is beautiful, smart, brave, and determined. I can't wait to read more about her in the future.

I haven't ever really thought about what effect war would have on a newly married couple until this book, and Anna Lee Huber does a tremendous job of making us realize that there was so much to deal with even after a war ended. Along with this, the mystery that she's given the protagonist to solve, while she's trying to repair her marriage, is also a war aftermath. This is another insightful, amazing book in this series, and I highly recommend it.

Anna Lee Huber, author of the Lady Darby mystery series, returns with book 2 of her WWI Verity Kent series. Now reunited with the husband she once thought lost in the war, Verity Kent begins the monumental task of rebuilding her marriage and putting the war behind them for good. Both Sidney and Verity have secrets they'd rather not share of their time during the conflict - Sidney in the trenches on the front lines and Verity as a Secret Service agent - but deciding how much to share of their pasts so soon after their reunion makes for a rocky reconciliation. When a medium sends Verity a message from a former undercover colleague asking for help, Verity's past becomes anything but forgotten. Verity returns to the medium's home hoping for more answers, but finds the house engulfed in flames, the medium inside dead. Sidney and Verity must navigate through the ravages of post war Belgium, looking for the remnants of a top secret spy ring known as La Dame Blanche, and uncover the true meaning of the message before more lives are lost.

Emotionally complex, historically thorough, and completely absorbing, this series is a joy to read. Verity is the sort of flawed but deep character that truly anchors a series, and this book, which touches upon the real life La Dame Blanche spy network, is both informative and gripping. The mystery this time out is a bit convoluted, but Verity is the sort of character that you will follow anywhere, knowing the journey will be worth it.

Treacherous Is the Night by Anna Lee Huber is the second book in the series A Verity Kent Mystery. This book and series are set In 1919 just after World War I in England and Europe. I love the well researched historical details of life and the effects of this war on the people that lived during this time. The author has written realistic historical fiction with romance, spys, thrills, suspense and mystery. I have enjoyed every book written by this author and recommend them all no matter the time period. My thanks to the author, the publisher and netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

I received this book via Netgalley in return for an honest review. Verity Kent, former British WWI undercover operative, is dragged to a seance by her best (and somewhat gullible) friend. The medium's message, however, is for Verity and doesn't bode well for past secrets. Verity is already challenged by the resurrection of her husband, presumed dead in the war, who'd been undercover to unmask a traitor. Adding in the outcome of the seance and what happens next, Verity and her husband face a series of difficult decisions - many involving trusting each other when each questions the other's motives and goals. I'm fascinated by WWI and the devastating impacts on lives both at the individual and the national levels. The author does an excellent job of setting this mystery in the era and making it all believable. Think Tuppence and Tommy Beresford, only more realistic and gritty, and you have this book. It's not a cosy but a well-researched and well-written who/why done it.

This second Verity Kent entry picks up a few weeks after the series debut, which reunited Sydney and Verity after Sydney's presumed death during WWI. Both are having trouble adjusting to married life and each is hiding painful secrets from their war experiences. The resulting lack of trust is eroding their marriage

When Verity is drawn into a mystery surrounding her involvement in the La Dame Blanche, a Belgium intelligence network, Sydney joins her, albeit somewhat reluctantly. The pair travels across Belgium and France, meeting with Verity's former contacts to unravel who is threatening former English intelligence operatives. Along the way, Sydney learns more about his wife, who is far from the naive young woman he married before he left for war. Verity also learns more about Sydney's war experiences and the way they have molded the man she loves but no longer knows.

Trust is also a theme in the search for the missing agent as Verity and Sydney encounter contacts from Verity's secret service missions, and mistaking foe for friend could have deadly consequences.

Author Anna Lee Huber blends romantic suspense with historical fiction as she pays tribute to women who were integral to the war effort during WWI but who faded into obscurity when the fighting ended. She is a worthy successor to Lady Mary Stewart's crown.

Full Disclosure--Net Gallery and the publisher provided me with a digital ARC of this book. This is my honest review.

Verity and her husband have a slightly awkward conversation. Immediately afterwards the narration spends to pages on explaining how her relationship has changed because of what they saw in the war and what happened after the war. That their relationship will never be the same as it was before. That they both still have to work through all those issues but that both have problems opening up to the other because they feel they don’t really know the other person anymore.

When Verity’s friend asks her to accompany her to the seance and that she hopes to contact her brother we are told in great detail how close that friend and her brother were, how hard it was for her when he fell and a detailed run-down of the friend’s other family members (and friends) and why it would be a bad idea when they accompanied her.

This happens again and again. And when we aren’t told what the characters feel, we get plain infodumps about the war, Verity’s work in the secret service, Belgian architecture and a lot of other things we don’t need to know in that much detail.

All this already made me almost quit the book a few chapters in because while I understand that sometimes an author just has to dump some stuff on the reader unceremoniously (especially in a case like this where they want the reader to be able to start reading a series at any point without getting confused by vague allusions to past events) this was just too much. But the mystery was quite intriguing so I read on.

That was a bad idea.

Because it quickly turned out that Verity’s husband is a horrible human being.

You see, Sidney wasn’t just missing presumed dead and turned up again. He deliberately faked his own death to draw out some traitors. Verity though he was dead for 15 months before he appeared again and demanded her help in his plot.

Verity now has some issues. They had a whirlwind romance anyway and quickly after they married he went to war so they didn’t really get to know each other. Then he died and she grieved for him (FOR 15 MONTHS) and then he just pops up again. And he is a different man now because war changes people. It has also changed Verity and now they are essentially a married couple that barely know each other. And that is somehow Verity’s fault as far as Sidney is concerned. When Verity is reluctant to share her own experiences he is all hurt. He shouts at his wife, who he let believe he was dead for 15 months because she can’t bring herself to share intimate details with him.

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After one of these confrontations she points out the whole You-made-me-think-you-were-dead thing and he yells “So this is all my fault?”

Yes, Sidney. It is. It might have been unavoidable to fake your own death. It might have even been unavoidable to not tell her in advance because the grief had to be genuine. But you could have considered telling her quicker than those 15 months. And if that wasn’t possible then you have to fucking deal with it. Deal with the fact that you can’t pick up exactly where you left off.

But of course, Verity doesn’t tell him that. She assures him that it isn’t his fault. (Which I guess means it is her fault. Stupid womenfolk).

That placates him until he finds out that she slept with another man. While she thought he was dead, grieved for him and was probably not exactly emotionally stable. But of course, Sidney is angry that after learning he was dead, his wife did not lock herself in, had no contact with anybody and just dealt with her grief just by sobbing uncontrollably.

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When they encounter Verity’s one-night-stand again Sidney punches him. Because that’s an emotionally mature reaction and doesn’t at all suggest that he will again react with violence when he doesn’t like something.

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But men getting violent because of something you did is so romantic, right?

But despite all that, they reconcile and have sex. And after that, he asks “I hope you don’t mind that I didn’t take precautions?” Because hey! It’s always better to ask for forgiveness than permission!

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In all that it felt like the mystery was just a backdrop to Verity’s and Sidney’s relationship issues (which I felt weren’t handled well…as you can probably tell). It wasn’t bad (yes there were some convenient coincidences but that’s the case in most mysteries) but it would have needed to be fleshed more out in some parts to work really well. But that space was needed to convince us what a great guy Sidney is…