Anna Lee Huber is a strong author who writes absorbing historical mysteries and her newest, Treacherous is the Night, begins with séance and intrigue.

This is the second book in the Verity Kent series and the mood is a bit different from the first book. Verity is no longer a grieving war widow, her husband is very much alive, and their relationship is strained. Verity finds herself embroiled in a new mystery with her husband Sidney by her side.

Huber is gifted with descriptions. I found myself rereading some of the passages simply for the beauty of the prose. The pace of this novel felt slower, a tad less suspenseful, but the mystery pulled me in. I do wish Max had a larger role—maybe in book three?

If you like historical mysteries with a strong, female protagonist, this is for you!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy.

A good solid entry in the series. Verity Kent and her husband are on shaky ground, trying to piece back their marriage in spite of their emotional war wounds and lack of trust. Verity reluctantly attends a seance with a friend. While she is there, the medium speaks to her about one her contacts while she was an intelligence courier during WWI. Verity makes a vow to find her friend, and begins to unravel the trail of breadcrumbs left for Verity to discover. Along the way Sidney and Verity make revelations that the other partner would rather not hear... but slowly brings them closer together.
The mystery of the story was intriguing, and the pacing of the book kept me very interested in the next step. This book was just the right mix of mystery, chaste romance, and espionage. If any of the three would hve been more dominant, I would have been disappointed. Though this book can stand alone, reading the first book gives you a good introduction to the characters.
I received this book in return for an unbiased review from Net Galley.

I thought the first book was decent but this one just really didn't appeal to me and I am not sure I like the direction the series is going. It was well written enough but the mystery wasn't enough for me and I am not crazy about the characters.

EXCERPT: "....Mrs Kent, I am ordering you to stay out of this matter. Should I discover you disregarded this warning or should you attempt to visit us here again, I will not hesitate to contact Scotland Yard." His eyes gleamed with the pleasure it would give him to see me arrested. "Is that clear?"

"Except that I'm no longer a member of the service, as you so helpfully reminded me. So you have no authority to order me to do anything," I replied as I closed the door. Perhaps it would have been wiser to hold my tongue and allow Major Davis to believe he'd won, but once the words were out of my mouth, I couldn't call them back.

However, one thing was for sure, he didn’t want me anywhere near this.

ABOUT THIS BOOK: In 1919 England, in the shadow of The Great War, many look to the spirit world for answers. But it will take an all too earthbound intrigue to draw in the discerning heroine of Anna Lee Huber’s latest mystery . . .

It’s not that Verity Kent doesn’t sympathize with those eager to make contact with lost loved ones. After all, she once believed herself a war widow. But now that she’s discovered Sidney is very much alive, Verity is having enough trouble connecting with her estranged husband, never mind the dead. Still, at a friend’s behest, Verity attends a séance, where she encounters the man who still looms between her and Sidney—and a medium who channels a woman Verity once worked with in the Secret Service. Refusing to believe her former fellow spy is dead, Verity is determined to uncover the source of the spiritualist’s top secret revelation.

Then the medium is murdered—and Verity’s investigation is suddenly thwarted. Even Secret Service agents she once trusted turn their backs on her. Undaunted, Verity heads to war-torn Belgium, with Sidney by her side. But as they draw ever closer to the danger, Verity wonders if she’s about to learn the true meaning of till death do us part . . .

MY THOUGHTS: Treacherous Is the Night is an excellent second installment to the Verity Kent series. After the brilliant beginning in This Side of Murder, I wondered just where there was left to go. I needn't have worried, this is every bit as good as the first was and it would seem that there are plenty of stories left to tell and adventures to be had as Verity and Sidney attempt to settle into their country home in post-war England.

Each book reveals a little more about Verity and Sidney's roles in the war, and about their relationship.

I will definitely be following this series and am eagerly awaiting the next book.

😍😍😍😍

THE AUTHOR: Anna Lee Huber is the Daphne award-winning author of the national bestselling Lady Darby Mysteries, the Verity Kent Mysteries, the Gothic Myths series, and the forthcoming anthology The Jacobite’s Watch. She is a summa cum laude graduate of Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee, where she majored in music and minored in psychology. She currently resides in Indiana with her family and is hard at work on her next novel.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Kensington Books via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Treacherous Is the Night by Anna Lee Huber for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system. This review and others are also published on my blog sandysbookaday.wordpress.com. https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...

Thank you for the ARC Net Galley!! I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I have totally been into reading novels set in England around WWI years, especially mysteries so this fit the bill perfectly. I have not read the first Verity Kent and did not feel that I needed to to enjoy this one - although I will be going back and reading it!!

Princess Fuzzypants here: I think we have a winner. This was an exciting and thrilling and fun book to read. Set shortly after WWI, Verity has learned recently that the husband she thought was killed was alive. He c0nvinces her to help him bring down traitors but as they attempt to rebuild their marriage afterward they both find they have changed dramatically. There are things they cannot share with each other- secrets that prevent them from truly reconnecting.
One of the things Sydney does not know is that Verity worked for The Secret Service, often behind enemy lines. She has been demobbed as all the women were after the fighting ceased but when she reluctantly attends a seance with a friend and the medium has a message for her, she is drawn back into that world. There is an ally who may be in grave danger and Verity is determined to find her. From that point forward, despite the Upper Class milieu, this turns into a great espionage tale with lots of twists and turns and heart pumping excitement.
Verity is a complex and highly intelligent woman who bristles in a chauvinistic world. She is a capable lady whose skills and perception are soon valued by those around her, including her husband who joins her on her quest through war torn Belgium and France. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip with them. I sincerely hope this is but the first of many such journies.
I give it five purrs and two paws up.

Treacherous Is the Night is the second in the Verity Kent series by Anna Lee Huber. Verity served as a spy in World War I which provides the backstory for the series which begins after World War I has ended.

Treacherous Is the Night begins shortly after the first book. Verity and her husband Simon have been reunited but are struggling with uncertainty and resentment. Verity is angry Simon kept her ignorant of his fake death, putting her through all the pain and mourning of his death. Simon is suspicious of the men she befriended during the War and unaware she did anything more than clerking and possibly code-breaking. However, when she is chivvied into going with her friend to see a medium, she is alarmed by a message from a woman she worked with during the war, a resistance spy named Emelie. Someone is breaching confidentiality and revealing Verity’s war work.

Verity is determined to investigate, leading her to go back to France, back to formerly occupied territory and war-ravaged towns and villages. Simon goes with her even though it is fraught with terrible memories of the war. He also discovers more and more of Verity’s past, including meeting another man Verity worked with during the war. The relationship is front and center as they try to navigate the past in search of answers.

I enjoyed Treacherous Is the Night quite a bit, but then I liked the first in the series as well. Verity is smart and doesn’t pretend she isn’t. She’s capable and when he husband keeps insisting on driving, she reminds him he taught her how to drive. She’s not tolerating the back seat just to cater to his masculine ego, particularly when he’s exhausted. I like that the clues are fair and the mystery is revealed bit by bit. It engages us in the solution. I like that Verity and Simon do sensible things like calling the police for backup. These are smart cookies.

I received a copy of Treacherous Is the Night from the publisher through NetGalley.

Review
Verity Kent 2
Treacherous is the Night by Anna Lee Huber

In the second Verity Kent mystery, former WWI spy, Verity, once more lives up to the meaning of her name. She is always after the truth (Verity) and finds it by becoming familiar with persons or things (Kenen).
When she is prodded into accompanying her friend Daphne to a séance that is run by the famous Mme. Zozza, Verity, a former spy during the Great War, becomes embroiled in a strange mystery. It is true that many people go to a séance after a war to look for closure
During the séance Mme. Zozza makes a clear reference to Emilie, Verity’s wartime spy colleague: “I need you to unearth my secrets, comprenez-vous? I need you to reveal them.” She shook her head sadly. “I know it will be difficult for you. But it is what I want. What I need. But beware the man hiding behind a mask. He does not mean me well.”
“Masked man” probably refers to a man who was disfigured from the war and wore a metal mask on part of his face. This mask covered the missing or burned area of his face and was sometimes painted with a representation of the missing eye or cheek so that people would not stare at him in public.
After the Medium brings up the voice of Verity’s war colleague, and fellow Belgian resistance fighter, Emilie, she also refers to the female spy group, “La a Dame Blanche.” This is very privileged information. Only a few people are aware of this secret network
How could she have this privileged information? When Verity goes back to question the psychic after the séance, she cannot get that question answered, because Mme. Zozza has been killed by a suspicious fire.
Verity needs to find out Emilie’s real name and locate her to solve the puzzle.
Sydney “You have to uncover the truth, in everything. I believe I even said as much. And if it was true then, then it’s still true now. I can’t expect that to change simply because it’s not convenient.”

There is also an interesting subplot: Verity thought that Sidney, her husband, was dead for 15 months. He was actually on a secret mission. Now that he is back, this is the first time that she has seen him since the beginning of WWI. How will the relationship proceed after 5 plus years and a war apart? What secrets will emerge? What are they both concealing?
Sydney still understands Verity’s purpose in life. He tells her “You have to uncover the truth, in everything. I believe I even said as much. And if it was true then, then it’s still true now. I can’t expect that to change simply because it’s not convenient.”

If Emilie is in trouble, does that mean that Verity is in trouble too?
This mystery series provides a satisfying look into Europe and its problems following WWI.
4.2/5

What a great second volume to a series! I was pulled right in and could't put it down. I confess that I wasn't a huge fan of the first book but I love and trust this author and my faith in her paid off. Verity is fascinating character and like an onion every book just peels away a layer of who she is and the secrets of her past. In the first book, we didn't get much information on her or who she was and so it was important that this book deliver and let's just say I'm hooked! I really enjoy the scenes of her and her husband reconnecting. I wasn't so sure how I'd feel as I really like the Lord Ryde character and while I'm rooting for Verity and Sidney to work stuff out I am not entirely opposed to Ryde being the romantic foil. I look forward to their further adventures and the unveiling of more secrets! I'm also intrigued about how the author will have the characters navigate post-war Europe & Germany and the wild decadence of 1920s society. Do I need to see them in Weimar Germany? I do. Do I want this series to follow them into the next war? I do! Great characters and great storytelling!

Verity Kent is a treasure! I can't wait to read more in this new mystery series. Love the WWI setting too.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this book much more than the first one, though I understand the first one [in the sense of why Verity was the way she was] a lot more because of things that come out in this book and that was a nice added bonus.

This was a very good mystery with a lot of historical content in it. I would not classify this book as a cozy mystery [war is not cozy in ANY context, even the aftermath of war] as I have seen it classified. But it was a very good mystery with lots of intrigue and codes and running all over the countryside. And it is interesting to see Verity and Sidney try and heal their marriage in the middle of all the secrets and lies that had been kept and told because of the war and Sidney's faking his death [see Book 1 for all those details, though they go over some of it here]. To go into much more detail would delve into the spoiler area and I am not one to do that. I will tell you that this was a very good read and I learned some things about WW1 that I didn't know and I do enjoy Verity and Sidney together and the peripheral characters are also very enjoyable. I am really starting to love this series and am looking forward to the next one!

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am a fan of the WWI mystery novels by Jacqueline Winspear and Charles Todd, but Anna Lee Huber’s <I>Treacherous is the Night</I> left me cold. The author didn’t seem to know what story she was telling and some of the writing was awkward at best.

This is the 2nd in the Verity Kent series and is set in the days immediately following World War I. Her husband. Sydney has recently returned home after catching traitors in his rank. In order to do so, he had had to pretend to be dead for 15 months. This pretense had taken a toll on their marriage, particularly since Verity had had affairs during this time.

At the beginning of <I>Treacherous is the Night</I> Verity, against her own wishes, accompanies her friend Daphne to visit a spiritualist, Madame Zozza. Though Daphne had hoped to hear from her husband who died in battle, it is Verity, who is addressed by Madame Zozza. As Mme. Affects to speak for Emilie and calls upo Verity for help to unearth her secrets, Verity realizes that this summoning is false, for Emilie had not known her real name nor had she known Emilie’s.

During the war newly married Verity had worked for British Secret Service as a courier in German occupied Belgium, occasionally crossing into Germany. She had often crossed paths with another spy, Emilie who had been a member of La Dame Blanche, an underground intelligence network which operated in German occupied Belgium. Emilie had used her job as a midwife to travel in German occupied areas of Belgium and France without arousing suspicion. Yet despite acknowledging that the Mme. Zozza is a fraud, Verity is alarmed by the message and feels that Emilie is in harm's way. Someone had given Mme. Zozza sensitive information about her and she was determined to find out who had done so. Verity decides to go to Belgium to find Emilie and Sydney insists upon going with her. All along the way, Verity is sure they are being followed, beginning the next morning when she goes to speak with Mme. Zozza and finds her building in flames.

Red herrings are plentiful as Verity fails to meet with her superior at Whitehall Your and his second in command orders hero keep away from the matter. And plenty are thrown down on the boat and throughout her trip to Belgium where she and her husband are constantly followed. People keep popping up and disappearing but there is never any real suspense. The whole mystery kind of falls apart just when it should be building.

Treacherous is the Night

by Anna Lee Huber

Although the Great War is over, no one is over the Great War in Anna Lee Huber’s Treacherous is the Night. Every family has been affected by the huge number of fatalities and the return of badly wounded soldiers. Civilians carry the memories of deprivation and on the continent all live daily in the midst of destruction and rebuilding. For Verity Kent, the end of the war means reunion with a husband long thought dead and the end of her dangerous stint as a spy. Verity is dragged back into the aftermath of the war when she is an unwilling participant in a séance that is an obvious hoax.

Verity and her husband are trying to sort out their difficult relationship, but manage to put their struggle aside to solve the mystery, decipher codes, and discover who is lying. Huber does an excellent job of putting the reader in the timeframe right after the end of the war, and she reveals the horrors of war without being graphic. She portrays Verity as a woman restricted by the times she lives in, but capable and competent to achieve so much more than is expected from a woman in that period.

I enjoyed Treacherous is the Night and would like to read the first book in the series for more background and to experience Verity’s previous adventures.

I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Kensington Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 5/5

Category: Historical Fiction, Mystery

Notes: #2 in the Verity Kent Series, but acceptable as a standalone.

Publication: September 25, 2018—Kensington Books

Memorable Lines:

We might be incapable as of late at discussing anything of importance, but as well-educated upperclass Brits, we could always rely upon our proficiency at inane small talk. After all, we’d been drilled in it since the cradle.

But in my estimation, he was naught but an officious pig, no offense to the swine.

“…the truth is war is hell on everyone who falls near its angry maw. The actions you take thinking to spare the innocent or inexperienced can just as easily cause their destruction, simply because the world is turned so bloody upside down.”

I enjoyed how the plot related to Verity's work during the war with the spy network, and the setting - both time and place - were done well, but the story dragged significantly in the middle and was rather slow throughout.

Thank you Net Galley. This is shaping into a delightful series. I liked the book very much and enjoyed the development of Verity's character. I look forward to the next book in the series. Strongly recommended.

After my intro to Verity and her Post WWI world in This Side of Murder, I was eager to press forward with the next installment in this complex and intriguing though exceptionally engaging historical murder mystery series.

Treacherous is the Night is book two and follows closely on the heels of book one. It builds from the previous events and doesn't make a good one to grab out of order.

In fact, this book's very blurb provides a spoiler for book one that can't be helped, dear readers, so just know that going forward if you choose to keep reading or investigating this book.

Alright, so that warning given, let me share my thoughts on this one. The time is just following the harrowing and startling events of the previous suspenseful adventure and Verity is just coming off that high and faced with the reality of the new twist her life has taken. The author does her home work and presents a historical world and setting that shows what it was like just following the Great War for Brits and for those who are rebuilding and attempting to get on with life after German occupation in Belgium and France.

This was an excruciatingly emotional book on a few levels, but mostly as it tackles the after effects of Verity's new marital circumstances. There are no simple answers. Both have blame and both are prickly. But, love is still there though it is ready to flicker out if they can't find a way.
Verity didn't do well when she thought her husband dead. She drank heavy, lived wildly, lived dangerously and she rose to the challenge of work in the Secret Service that altered her forever. Now, she can't stuff herself back into the persona of her early years as Sydney's wife- that is no longer she. She can only guess that Sydney doesn't know what to do with who and what she is now. She is still simmers with anger that he allowed her to think him dead and is resentful that now she feels guilty for the secrets she now keeps from him.
Meanwhile, Sydney is something of a closed book with secrets and shadows of his own from those years. He, and other returning war vets like him, are no longer the same. Verity is caught up in her own issues, but slowly realizes that she is not the only stranger in this relationship who needs to be understood and accepted. It seems that neither are willing to cross the great gulf yawning between them and both are willing to figuratively and sometimes literally run from the big issues they need to confront. Like I said, this was a hard fought path this pair is on, but this battle did need to be waged.

The mystery is a breath of fresh air and almost light compared to the anguish of their marriage trouble. I was glad to see Verity and Sydney, Max and some new faces on the hunt figuring out the odd and mysterious meaning behind a medium's message about Verity's Secret Service work and then the woman's death. The mystery carries them into danger and a trail back to their past during the war years in Belgium. I found it a nice blend of tension and steady clue hunting. The suspense was not as shocking or atmospheric as the previous book, but it was by no means boring, either.

All in all, this will exhaust readers emotionally and maybe even not be their thing if they are only looking for a mystery in a historical setting, but for those who need to connect with the lives of the characters, this will certain do that and there is resolution here and excitement for what is to come from the rest of the series.

I rec'd this book from Kensington through Net Galley to read in exchange for an honest review.

Jacqueline Winspear, Susan MacNeal, Rhys Bowen and Ashley Weaver fans - find a seat at the table for Anna Huber. Huber is known for her popular Lady Darby series. This new title, Treacherous Is the Night, is the second in the Verity Kent series. Fans of strong female characters set during the war years in England, will want to add this to the collection of the authors mentioned above. Feisty Verity Kent, thought to be a war widow, is now rebuilding a life with her husband, who was thought to be killed in action during the Somme battles. An interesting twist in this book is the influence of the spiritualism and occult during this time period. With so many young men lost in battles, loved ones reach out to say their last goodbyes through mediums and spiritualists. Verity Kent is on the trail of her fellow spy whose name was mentioned in a seance and thought to be in danger.

Treacherous is the Night by Anna Lee Huber is the latest Verity Kent mystery. This book is part of a series but it could be read as a standalone novel, which is what I did. But, I wish I had read the other book first, because it is obvious from this novel that the previous book was just as amazing as this one. In this novel, the Great War has just finished and it is 1919 in England. Verity is trying to put the pieces of her life back together now that she is reunited with her once presumed dead husband. But, the past does not seem willing to stay in the past and Verity is soon faced with a mystery to solve. Can she make a life with her husband? Can she solve the mystery before more lives are lost? This book has everything-- secrets, complicated emotions, a spouse back from the dead, espionage--- just to name a few. Ms Huber brings the time period to life while bringing a great deal of suspense that will keep you turning pages. This novel would appeal to readers of historical fiction as well as readers who love suspense. I highly recommend it! I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.

“Treacherous Is the Night” by Anna Lee Huber is a thrilling mystery set during 1919 England just after the war, when many who are grieving seek solace from spiritualists. Atmospheric and engaging, it features Verity Kent, once a member of the Secret Service who sets out to uncover the truth about the supposed death of a female spy. Then the medium who channels the lost spy is murdered, and Verity is blocked by her former spook colleagues in discovering what truly happened — and finds her own life in danger. Highly recommended!

Pub Date 25 Sep 2018

Thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.

#TreacherousIsTheNight #NetGalley

Sorry was not a fan of this book, The story wasn't realistic, and I couldn't even bother to finish reading it.