Noted and prolific author Anne Perry, acclaimed for her historical novel series, sets Death in Focus An Elena Standish Novel in 1933 Berlin where the tensions and resentments between Germany and the rest of Europe have begun to corrode a very thin veneer of civilization. Photographer Elena Standish and her sister Margot are enjoying the Amalfi coast of Italy including meeting dashing new dance partners, Ian Newton and Walter Mann. When a body tumbles out of a linen closet, Elena is nearby and notices to her distress how involved her new friend becomes. When Ian announces he has to leave for Paris immediately, Elena impulsively decides to join him. The moment they board the train, the dominoes begin to fall. Elena ends up in Berlin charged with delivering a vital piece of information to the British Embassy She arrives as the plans for book burnings are launched and another murder takes place. . Elena's photography, especially of the book burning, pull her deeper in to the violence and snarling racial hatred. Her instinct to be the chronicler of history puts her in the right place at a very wrong time for her personal safety.

The themes of "nothing is as it seems" and "the determination to prevent another war at any cost" interweaves with the long shadows of shattered families and long held grudges. The secrets are strangling and readers do well to pay attention to them.

Much of this book is dedicated to the exposition and development of British and German characters and a story line that h.ints of at least a sequel. All the types and characters one would expect to find in a book about this time period surface including Hitler and Goebbels. However, Perry does not disappoint and the final quarter of the book is fast paced, peaking in a double take of a plot twist. This is an engaging, satisfying novel which might coin a new phrase, "spy cozy."

An amazing story that's an appealing blend of mystery and history. Apparently this is the first of a new series by Anne Perry, and she definitely has a hit on her hands. The World War II - era history reads true, and it never gets dry or dull, thanks mostly to all the suspense and intrigue going on.

Death in Focus (Elena Standish #1)
Author: Anne Perry
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine
Publication Date: September 17, 2019
4 Stars

World War I has drawn to a close, and Europe is still hopeful that this “Great War” will be the war to end all wars. However, at this time, there are already rumblings that things are not ok, and peace is not safe.

After a terrible romantic involvement with a man who would become a traitor to his country, Elena Standish decides to focus on her photography. Her photography takes her to Italy to photograph an economic conference. Although not looking for a male companion, she finds one in a man named Ian Newton. They seem to hit it off immediately, and they become even closer after they both stumble upon a dead body. Ian tells Elena he needs to go to Paris and invites Elena to go with him. Elena accepts his invitation, and the two take off immediately. While on board the train, Ian goes to get tea, but he never returns. Elena goes in search of him and finds him crumpled over in one of the other train compartments. He had been stabbed in the chest and is bleeding to death. As much as Elena wants to help him, there isn’t anything she can do to stop the bleeding. In a different way though Elena is given a chance to help. Before he dies, Ian tells Elena that he is a part of the British military intelligence. He has information that he needs Elena to carry on for him. He tells her she must get to the British Embassy in Germany and warn Roger Cordell that Friedrich Scharnhorst is slated to be assassinated. Ian believes that Scharnhorst is a vile man, but he does not want to see England implicated in his death. Elena rushes to the embassy and warns Cordell of the impending assassination. Then she attends the rally where Scharnhorst is to be speaking in order to capture pictures of the event. Scharnhorst is indeed shot, and when Elena gets back to her room she finds a recently fired gun in her closet. At that point she knows she is being framed, and she goes on the run. Elena is not sure who to turn to or who to trust.

This was a great thriller/mystery novel. Elena is a great main character. She is thought of as one of the weaker members of her family, but shows great strength throughout the novel. A lot of times in a series it takes a few books before we see a major change in our main character. However, Elena’s first hand view of Germany and Hitler’s growing influence really help transform her. Elena’s whole family sounds intriguing and I’m looking forward to seeing more of them in future novels. Perry’s attention to historical details moves the reader as well, reminding us of a terrible series of events that eventually lead to WWII.


If you enjoy Anne Perry’s Monk or Thomas and Charlotte Pitt series, I think you will enjoy this book. It has a great historical setting, a gripping plot, and adventurous characters.

Thanks to Net Galley and Random House Publishing - Ballantine for an ARC of this book. #NetGalley #DeathInFocus

I had high hopes for this new series. I have read all of her books and know that she can branch out from her current series to give us another great one. I still, however, prefer the Pitt series, of both generations. When I saw that she was starting a series set between the wars with a female protagonist I was ready to enjoy it. Sad to say the chemistry wasn't there for me. I just didn't care for any of the characters the way I had in the other series. By the halfway point I simply wanted to jump to the end and then find my next mystery to read.
This is very rare for me and I'm certain that the fault lies with me rather than with the author. I'll be happy to read more about Daniel Pitt but I'm not a fan of Elena Standish.
My thanks to the publisher Ballantine and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

The protagonist, Elena Standish, has made mistakes that have caused lasting damage to herself and her family. Unfortunately, she keeps repeating the same basic mistakes that come with inexperience and naivete. While Perry is not going to cut her main character a break, she does give her the spirit and determination to bring a house of cards down all around her. She falls in love in a minute, she jumps on a train with a self-imposed challenge to slay the perceived dragons and in doing so exposes many to possible harm. She takes a few hard knocks and gives back in kind. It could have happened; so many more extraordinary stories have come out of the time of Hitler’s ascent to ultimate power. The pervasive and eternal question of moral retreat, is it worse to kill or stand by and watch it happen without intervening? That dilemma is all over this book.

A little bit dated, a little bit confusing, a little bit unbelievable. Anne Perry’s latest foray into the mystery/thriller genre with new characters left me basically disappointed. How many questions can any person pose and answer within the space of a page or a minute? It turns out many and I wanted to scream “Stop it right now”.

Death in Focus is the inaugural entry in Anne Perry’s new Elena Standish series set in pre-World War II Europe. It is near impossible to comprehend the casualties of World War I. The British Empire sent 8,904,467 men to fight in the Great War; 908,371, or close to 10 percent of the soldiers, never came home. The impact on British society was incalculable.

Elena’s older sister, Margot, was a newlywed when her husband was killed, and the Standish sisters also lost “their beloved brother” Mike. The English—full of patriotism and idealism—called the First World War “the war to end war,” but that was not to be.

Fifteen years after the end of WWI, Elena and Margot are enjoying the beauty of Italy’s Amalfi Coast. Elena’s job is to photograph the delegates at an economists’ conference, and Margot is along for the ride. Elena is captured by the history and beauty of Amalfi but feels unequal to the task of capturing it for posterity.

Elena was staring at a woman further down the steep hill. She wore a scarlet dress and was dancing by herself, within her own imagination, perhaps lost in time in this exquisite town on the edge of the Mediterranean, which had lured the Caesars from the wealth and intrigue of Rome to dally here.

A charming man approaches Elena, asking if the dancer is “a figment of a fevered imagination.” He introduces himself, “Ian Newton. Economic journalist. Sometimes.” She responds, “Elena Standish. Photographer. Sometimes.” Elena says the dancer is Margot Driscoll, her sister, and Ian asks if Margot’s husband is with her.

“Margot is a widow. Her husband, Paul, was killed in the war.”



Ian Newton nodded. Of course … This was a situation encountered every day, even now. He looked over to Margot, destined to dance alone in a world populated by superfluous women.

Ian asks the sisters to join him for dinner, and during an argument over which dress to wear, Margot tells Elena that her blue dress choice screams “stick in the mud.” It seems in her salad days, Elena fell for a rotter, a man who “had betrayed them all, and she had been stupid enough to help him, albeit unwittingly.” It ended her career in “a high position in the Foreign Office,” a job attained, at least in part, “to her father’s position as British ambassador in several of the most important cities in Europe.”

Since then, Elena has played it safe—that is until she decides to flaunt a come-on-hither black dress from Margot’s closet. Anne Perry paints a bleak and emotionally bereft picture of post-war survivors.

Fifteen years after the war, everyone still had their griefs: loss of someone, something, a hope or an innocence, if not more. And fear of the future. It was in the air, in the music, the humor, even the exquisite, now fading light.

The pivotal phrase is “fear of the future.” But it is human nature to embrace happiness when it is offered, and Elena enjoys herself thoroughly while dining and dancing with Ian. The evening ends unexpectedly when they glimpse a dead body through an open hotel room door. From Ian’s reaction, Elena strongly suspects he knows the dead man. If that is the case, she wonders, why is he lying to the police?

The scene shifts to England to an elderly man in his quiet study; Lucas Standish, Elena and Margot’s grandfather.

Lucas was a quiet man who read about life. That was what he was to others, even to his own family.



But he had been head of Military Intelligence—MI6, as it was known—for a good part of the war. In his thoughts, he would say “the last war” because he feared there would be another. He was in his early seventies, and not officially part of the service anymore, but his interest had never slackened, and he knew a great deal of what was happening now.

Lucas and his wife, Josephine, entertain their son, Charles, and daughter-in-law, Katherine, at dinner. Their conversation illustrates the tensions that divide people. Lucas doesn’t want another war, but he’s not naïve. Charles is an admirer of Oswald Mosley, a man who is cut from the same gib as Hitler and Mussolini. Charles believes that the last thing England needs to do is rearm, “let alone building more ships! We simply can’t afford it.”

Lucas’s thoughts conjure up today’s world scene, recalling philosopher George Santayana words, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Lucas says quietly that many people are acting out of fear and hatred and that “we must keep fear in its place, not let it make us act in panic, or with disregard for others.” Although a quarrel is averted, father and son know they have merely papered over their profound differences. Josephine asks Lucas if he meant what he said about fear.

“Yes. Fear begets violence and hatred,” he answered. “It’s the easy answer. Blame someone else. Blame the gypsies, the Jews, the Communists, anyone but ourselves. Get rid of them, and it will all be fine. It’s as old as sin, and about as useful!”

The next day, Peter Howard, a colleague and friend from MI6, asks to meet with Lucas. Howard tells Lucas that he fears Roger Cordell, a man stationed in the British Embassy in Berlin, “might be playing both sides,” and he begs, again, for Lucas to “Come back. Help us to do it right.” Lucas turns him down, but he takes Howard’s warning seriously enough to visit his old friend Winston Churchill, warning him not to take communiques from Cordell at face value.

Back in Amalfi, Elena spontaneously accepts Ian’s invitation to travel with him to Paris after he opens a telegram marked “Urgent” and tells her he must leave immediately. Elena’s journey with Ian becomes inextricably intertwined with Lucas’s past and present—but no more spoilers.

Death in Focus is set in the early 1930s, but the plot is fresh and compelling. Brava Anne Perry! Readers will assuredly count down the months until the next Elena Standish mystery.

This was a promising start to a new series by the author of one of my favorite series (Charlotte and Thomas Pitt). I loved the historical detail. I studied abroad twice in Germany during college and am fascinated by Germany between the wars. She captured the essence of the Times perfectly, in my opinion, and really avoided anachronistic dialogue and thoughts. My favorite character was Lucas Standish by far, and also Josephine.

I did have a difficult time relating to Elena at times. She just didn’t seem to be at all how Lucas viewed her. I found her blind trust in a series of men (Ian, Jacob, Walter) to be baffling, especially in light of her past. The part of her I loved the most was her photography. Her passion and knowledge came across beautifully.

Overall, this was a great read, and I look forward to seeing where this series goes! Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my free digital copy.

Death in Focus by Anne Perry is a wonderful new series set on in 1930's and featuring a young woman named Elena Standish, a photographer, quite a good one. He biggest failing is that she is young and inexperienced and so, makes embarrassing mistakes. She is in Amalfi with her sister Margo, a war widow who has not really gotten over her husband's death. Elena is there covering an economics symposium. There she meets a young man, Ian Newton, an economics reporter, with whom she is immediately taken. One things leads to another and she decides to leave for Paris a day or two early, with Ian, without Margot. Along the way things happen. She ends up finding herself in a spot of trouble, never certain whom she should trust. In the end, long kept family secrets are uncovered and much danger is averted and Elena may have found herself a new career.

Being a huge fan of Anne Perry's I was excited to start this journey with her, and now that I have I look forward to accompanying her to its conclusion. Elena is a wonderful character who leaps before she looks sometimes, but is resilient and is able to think on her feet. She is the daughter of an English diplomat so foreign countries are not new to her...an advantage. She is the granddaughter of the retired head of MI 6, a fact of which she is not yet aware. Intrigue is bred into her bones. She is the ideal heroine for many adventures she is yet to have. I am very excited about this series. I highly recommend Death in Focus.

I received a free ARC of Death in Focus. All opinions and interpretations contained herein are solely my own. #netgalley #deathinfocus

Death in Focus by Anne Perry This the story of Elena, a photographer, who worked for the British government. A bit slow moving and hard to relate to the characters, it is an interesting and informative historical fiction/mystery novel. The first in a new series that centers around the Standish family during the prewar years, 1930s.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

I received a free electronic ARC copy of this British suspense novel from Netgalley, Anne Perry, and Random House - Ballantine. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work.

Anne Perry brings us another excellent suspense series! Death in Focus is the first in a series featuring Elena Standish, hopeful photographer, set in the pre-WWII year 1933 in England, Germany and a bit of France. Elena is the focus of our story and we see her often through the eyes of her grandfather, Lucas. She is the youngest child of Charles and Katherine Standish, granddaughter of Lucas and Josephine Standish.

The Great War was very hard on the Standish family. Margot, the eldest of the grandchildren of Lucas and Josephine lost her new husband during the closing battles of WWI. She is the adventurous of the Standish sisters, a bit forward and independent. Then was son Mike, killed in action the same day as Margot's husband. Grandparents Lucas and Josephine did their part in the conflict -Josephine decoding messages, and Lucas with the then totally secret MI6, Military Intelligence. Their involvement was, of course, clandestine so the family was not aware of their sacrifices and because Lucas stayed with MI6 and eventually ran it, Charles had only a vague idea of his father's post-war employment with the government. Charles works in the diplomatic corp and wife Katherine, an American, plays the diplomats other-half very well. Then we have Elena. Elena is the more sedate, grounded daughter of the Standish clan. Or so most of them thought...

This is an excellent tale. As always, Anne Perry puts us in those shoes, on that train, wearing that red dress. We feel the hunger, the fear, the frustration. This is a book that is hard to put down. Anne Perry is an author to binge on. One or two books are never enough to satisfy. I need to read them all...

I have wanted to read Anne Perry's books for along time...but didn't want to jump in to the middle of a series. So I was excited to get the chance to read this book...the first in a new series. The story takes place in the mid 1930s. Europe is still trying to recover from the Great War and Hitler is rallying the German people. Death in Focus is an excellent historical mystery and an important read. I highly recommend this for anyone who enjoys a good mystery!
Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was expecting Death in Focus to be both interesting and entertaining since I have never read a bad book written by Anne Perry. It is exactly that. Set in post WWI Europe, Elena Standish makes an intriguing heroine. Young and yet resourceful, the female photographer is a hit with me.

Political intrigue, family contriving, and international plotting leaves Elena alone and independently trying to accomplish message delivery in Berlin. The anxiety and trama effects of the war on all of Europe is evident in this story which involves several interwoven storylines. A fantastic historical novel. Hope that Elena has many more adventures. She is an underestimated force to be reckoned with.

First there were her Victorians and then her WWI thrillers, but the latest new series is set an exciting and edgy pre-dawn of WWII. An intrepid heroine who thought of herself as rather average and the family failure until a dying spy gives her a quest that sends her into the heart of the Nazis to save her country from war.

Elena Standish failed her family and herself when she fell in love with a man who betrayed their country and her. She was a top prospect for the foreign office and following in her father’s footsteps until this err in judgment got her dismissed. Her father’s disappointment and anger with her is still palpable and she doesn’t blame him. She never was his favorite child after her flamboyant and gorgeous sister and her eager and fun brother. So she turns her focus to her photography gift and seeks to make something of that.

I enjoyed following along as Elena, scared and unsure, determined to do the right thing. She got lucky many times, but she also showed some temerity when most people would have been curled in a ball in the corner after experiencing what she did.

The author’s gift to paint a strong and accurate backdrop and full-faceted culture of the time was as powerful as ever. I think it was what really pulled me into this book the most. Through Elena’s eyes, the time before WWII in Berlin and greater Germany and Europe was laid out, turbulent and terrifying for some and still recovering from the last Great War for all. There was cruelty and fear and a world gone crazy as she witnessed a book burning, the ‘brown shirts’ (Hitler followers) who are little better than street thugs bullying regular citizens, the insane people in power around Hitler, torture of anyone not perfectly Aryan or willing to tow the party line.

Then there was the tolerance and looking the other way to prevent war ‘at any cost’ attitude among the English was tough to read. It was chilling how many in power actually supported Hitler because they feared the communists as worse. I get their feelings of terror and revulsion of another World War since many of those people lost loved ones and some hit harder with multiple losses like Elena’s brother dying in the war and also her sister Margot’s husband. They really thought there was a chance to keep the peace.

Beyond Elena’s amateur espionage adventure into Germany, this book had strong secondary story lines involving the rest of her family from her secretive grandparents and their ties to MI-6, her parents with their diplomatic ties, her sister trying to stay on top of her grief and help Elena, and the slew of other characters peopling this one. I could see where the large cast of characters were introduced and will be an ongoing part of the series.

I figured out the who easily, but I was surprised as to the why when it came to the murders. This read like a thriller and there was some exciting series of climaxes including the final one that revealed all. The book ended somewhat abruptly, but didn’t leave any major plot threads go unanswered.

All in all, I’m pretty excited about this new series and can’t wait for more murder and espionage in the next book. Historical mystery/thriller fans should definitely give this one a look see.

Started out good, but turned tedious and slow. This one was a miss for me! Death in Focus is the first book in a new series by the mystery writer Anne Perry. I’m a big fan of Perry’s mysteries, specifically the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt books and also the William Monk books, but this book I just did not connect with.
Death in Focus is set in 1933, as Hitler is coming into power and Nazi ideology is taking shape. One main character is Elena, who is caught up with a gentleman who is then murdered, and Elena tries to pass on the message the gentleman was trying to deliver in Berlin. Another main character is Lucas Standish, Elena’s grandfather, who was a former head of MI6. Lucas is still somewhat informed of goings-on around the globe, and so he is involved remotely, as he’s in England and Elena travels from Italy to Berlin.
I liked both of these characters. Elena was plucky and determined, while Lucas was steadfast and calm. I feel like we’ve only scratched the surface in terms of Lucas’s character, as a former head of MI6 he was shrouded in mystery.
The problem with this book wasn’t with the characters, however, it was with the story. It went downhill and got boring quickly! How can a story of a person being framed for murder and being on the run in the early stages of Nazi Germany be boring? But this book has succeeded! The ending got a bit better but the whole plot was flimsy and far-fetched. Besides the main characters of Elena and Lucas (who aren’t even in the same country for the majority of the book), I had trouble keeping everyone straight. Elena meets man after man in this book (she meets one in Italy, another on a train, another in Germany, etc etc), and I kept getting them all mixed up in my mind. None of them had a backstory that stuck with me, so I kept getting confused.
Besides having too many indistinct characters, there was also too much conversation. These conversations would slow down the pace, and I found myself drifting away mentally during these scenes. Which is quite rare for me. Typically I prefer more conversation and less action, but it didn’t work for me here.
I love Anne Perry’s other mysteries, and I did enjoy the two main characters so even though this one was a miss for me, I would read another book in this series. While it was heavy handed and preachy at times, I can see how the stage has been set for some promising stories to come!
Bottom Line: Slow and tedious, but I’m cautiously optimistic for the series as a whole!

The first in Anne Perry's new series is set in 1933 and gives some insight into the period in which Hitler has built up his power. In England, Oswald Mosely and his British Union of Fascists have gained influence. Fear of another war with Germany has many concerned, but the attitudes vary from those realizing the danger of Hitler and those admiring him and his policies.

What I liked: Several quotes near the beginning.

"Fear begets violence and hatred," he said. "it's the easy answer. Blame someone else. blame the gypsies, the Jews, the Communists, anyone but ourselves. Get rid of them, and it will all be fine."

"Hitler is either assuming more power himself or appointing bloody awful men to do it for him. Himmler, for example."

'I suppose every culture has them: men in bondage to their own inadequacies, who will never be satisfied because the emptiness inside them."

"They're always there, the misfits. It's the measure of a leader, which men he picks for the next tier of command...."

"...for all the judgment it exercised, without right and far too often, he believed, without kindness."

"What you see, and allow without a fight, is what you become yourself. What is the moral difference between the man who burns his neighbor to death, and the man who stands by and watches him do it?"

"And Hitler feeds people's resentment, ..."

"People are capable of believing anything they want to justify what they feel. And of believing that what they need to be true to justify what they are doing."

"...now winning is the only objective! And the more you win, the more you justify it, until the whole idea of right and wrong disappears and only winning matters."

What I didn't like: Everything else was a disappointment. This is unusual for an Anne Perry book, but the plot and the conclusion were improbable and the characters were thin.

The quotes, however, from the early part of the book (and I didn't include all of them) seem as appropriate in today's climate as they did in 1933.

NetGalley/Random House/Ballentine
Historical Mystery. Sept. 17, 2019. Print length: 304 pages.

This is a story set in pre-World War II Europe. There is a debate about Hitler is a good thing for Germany or if he is a horrible individual who will bring death and destruction to Europe once again. Since looking back at history gives us twenty-twenty vision, we know now that Hitler was the latter.

This story is about a young woman, Elena Standish, who originally worked for the British government. However, she was duped and it resulted in her changing professions. She is now a photographer and is trying to make a name for herself.

This story not only introduces Elena but also various members of her family. There are many surprises with regards to those individuals and what they have done in the past and are still doing at the time this story is set.

Elena ends up finding out for herself just how serious things are beginning to take shape in Germany. She begins to take her stance and find her way once again.

I’m looking forward to reading more in this series. The author touched on many things that were heartbreaking and, at the same time, was able to write a compelling mystery as well.

I was provided a digital advance reader copy of this book by the publisher via Netgalley.

Interbellum intrigue!

What would you do if you'd been having a grand old time on the Amalfi Coast and then discovered a body in a hotel laundry cupboard. It's 1931, Elena Standish Is working as a photographer at an economics conference. Her sister Margot, who marches to the beat of her own drum, came along for the ride. The opening scene captures this so vividly. At some point Elena decides to join the young man, Ian Newton, who was with her when the body made its presence felt, on a journey to Berlin. Only her companion, that oh so nice young man, is shot on the train. With his dying breath he informs Elena that he's trying to stop an assassination of a top member of the Nazi party in Berlin. His reasons seem lucid so Elena decides to Cary forward with Ian's task.
What we find out as the story continues is that Elena has had a somewhat unfortunate encounter with another man when she was working with the Foreign Office in Paris, embarrassing to her father as a high ranking Foreign Office official, and devastating for Elena. She had been asked to leave.
Along with this it comes to light that Elena's grandfather Lucas, had been the head of MI16 during the World War I, and still has contacts in the service. Some of those contacts are worried about the rise of Hitler and Nazism and of Oswald Mosley's influence in England.
What Elena sees in Berlin, the dangers she finds herself in, are horrendous and as she experiences first hand the lies and dangers behind Hitler's rise to power. (All the time Elena is photographing her journey).
A complex novel full of intrigue and human interest that lays the ground for what I am sure will be, in inimitable Anne Perry style, a startling new series set in this Interbellum period, that of Elena Standish.
I was struck by the almost mantra spoken of various ways throughout, Never Again, 'there should never be another war like the last one.' And one can sympathize with the British people in their memories of anguish, and their hopes that this had been the war to end all wars. We of course know differently. This works well into the way Perry's novel develops.
Strong female leads, old school staunch combatants, a family that has more than carried its share of secrets and heartbreak from WW1 into a new and welcomed age that on the surface seems all that was hoped for, and is in reality completely alien to those hopes. All give an authenticity to this pre World War II thriller!

A Random House ARC via NetGalley

Death In Focus by Anne Perry 4.5 stars

This is new series by Anne Perry featuring a new character, Elena Standish. The time period is the 1930's in Europe. Elena Standish is on the Amalfi Coast on assignment to photograph an economic conference. A talented photographer, she is traveling with her sister Margot who is a war widow. There are parties and people who seem to be desperately trying to forget - grief, the Depression, or the pall that hangs over Europe because of Mussolini and Hitler. Elena meets Ian and there is some attraction there. When he has to leave unexpectedly, she agrees to go with him to Berlin. On the train trip, Ian is murdered by not before he tells Elena that he works for British Intelligence and that she must complete his mission. This act will put her in danger in Hitler's Germany. She is in the crowd when somebody is killed and she is accused of being an assassin On the run, she receives help from an American journalist who hides her among the Jewish population in Berlin. She gets captured and escapes with the help of another man she met in Italy. The ending was unexpected, so I won't spoil it.

The action was non-stop and it showed that a lot of leaders hoped that there wouldn't be another war. That people hoped that Hitler would confine his actions to Germany. The portrayal of the actions in Germany were chilling. One of the Jewish characters, Zillah said things that probably a lot of Jews said at the time. But we as readers know that for most of them there are no happy endings.

I enjoyed this book and look forward to the next Elena Standish. But before that there will be a new Christmas book "A Christmas Gathering" and a new Daniel Pitt to look forward to.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House/ Ballantine for this ARC.

I’m excited to read the first book in a new series by Anne Perry. I really liked the characters and the setting. There was a lot going on and it kept getting more involved and complicated as the story went on. I will look forward to the next one in this series!

Oh how terrific to have a new character from Perry! Elena Standish is a young and privileged British woman who finds herself in the middle of a nest of mess in the lead up to WWII. Perry uses her, and her family, to explore the conflicts among the British, among others, about the German National Socialist Party and Adolf Hitler in the days before it became vividly apparent what was going to happen. This also wraps in the fascination some felt for the Fascists. The time between WWI and WWII was fraught with conflict in big and small ways- and a lot of unease. Perry has captured that. Of course there's also a mystery- the murder of Ian, who Elena met on the train and his request to her that she warn the British Ambassador to Germany- and then there's how Elena is pulled into the conflict. I actually found her parents and grandparents just as interesting. This is a good set up for future installments and I'm very much looking forward to them. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. For Perry fans and those who enjoy historical mysteries.