The Key to Deceit by Ashley Weaver is the second book in the Electra McDonnell cozy-ish mystery series. I love this cover!

I read A Peculiar Combination, the first in this series, a year ago so I was a bit fuzzy on some details, but I wanted to spend more time with this lock-picking family who now use their unique skills for good. I quickly slipped back into the world of Ellie McDonnell, Major Ramsey, and Felix Lacey in 1940 London as they investigate the deaths of two young women.

The mysteries are interesting, but I most enjoy the witty banter and romantic tension between Ellie and the (very different) men in her life. This installment shares more about Ellie's backstory, especially the death of her mother. And the characters experience the Blitz bombings - I loved how they factored into solving the mystery.

These novels are particularly enjoyable on audio with Alison Larkin's narration perfect for this cast of plucky characters. Many thanks to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for giving me access to the ALC; all thoughts are my own.

In the second book in the series about Electra MacDonnall and her safe-cracking family, she again comes to the assistance of Major Ramsay to track down a group of young women spying for the Nazis as bombs rain down during the Blitzkrieg.

In this audiobook from Dreamscape Media and narrated by Alison Larkin, the tension still sizzles between Ellie and the Major as they try to locate a cache of film taken by spies for the Germans. Felix returns as the longtime friend and competitor for Ellie's affections as she navigates her feelings for him and the Major.

I enjoyed this, although not quite as much as the first one since I felt the plot for the spy intrigue in this one was a little weaker. The bombing of London was well handled however, as discussed from the perspective of Ellie and her family as ordinary citizens coping with air raids, explosions, fear and destruction.

If you are a fan of this era, as I am, and like a British mystery with a lighter take, then you will love this series. Alison Larkin is impeccable as the narrator, with her beautiful, expressive voice bringing all the characters to life. Many thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape for the opportunity to review this audiobook.

You don’t need to have the first in this series to enjoy and understand this sequel.

This historical mystery is perfect for fans of the Veronica Speedwell series by Deanna Raybourn: spunky, outspoken, female protagonist in a historical British setting joins a male companion to solve a mystery. Light romance/sexual tension is included.

Loved this book! I haven't read the first in the series, but I found it easy to drop into this historical mystery series. I really liked Electra as a heroine, and her family and their set of skills. I liked the interactions with Major Ramsey, but I found the "love triangle" a tiny bit forced. I thought the period in which the novel is set to be a really interesting choice, right at the onset of the war. I loved the levels of the heist, with the jewelry thieving, the spies and the EXPLOSIONS IN A BANK. A really fun romp in general and one I would definitely recommend to friends who read historical mysteries.

Even though I have not read the first book in this series, I immediately loved the characters. This WWII historical fiction is ripe with mystery, friends in low places, and just enough tension between Ellie, Major Ramsey, and Felix to give this a touch of romance. If you enjoy any elements of mystery, intrigue, WWII England, or a touch of romance, this is a delightful book. The narrator is easy to understand and very British. Thank you #netgalley for the audiobook of #thekeyto deceit

The Key To Deceit is book 2 in the Electra (Ellie) McDonnell series but can easily be read as a stand-alone. This cozy mystery includes thieves, spies, murder, and a quasi-love triangle set in London during WWII.

Ellie McDonnell and her uncle are professional thieves; picking locks are their specialty. The two are recruited by Major Ramsey to help with the British war effort and to use their deceitful trade for a good cause.

When a woman’s body is discovered floating in the Thames, Major Ramsey asks Ellie for help in unlocking the cameo bracelet. Inside the bracelet is a tiny camera. And upon further investigation, Major Ramsey and Ellie uncover a potential German espionage ring just as the Germans start bombing London.

Alison Larkin did a terrific narration. She added a feistiness to Ellie that I enjoyed. Overall, I thought the story balanced all the cozy mystery elements. But for me, some of the storylines dragged at times. I do think that’s more me as the reader than the book itself because most of the reviews on GoodReads are 4 and 5 stars so….

Who would love this book?
✨Cozy mystery lovers
✨Mysteries that take place in 1940s
✨Slow burn romance triangle that’s very PG
✨Clues that help the reader solve the mystery

This series is really charming via audiobook with a great British feel.

The Key to Deceit was a satisfying follow up to the first book with a further exploration of the characters. Electra is both charming and fierce and she is a worthy lead for the series. It is a very quick and fun read that kept me engaged throughout.

I think this book is a great fit for fans of historical fiction, gentler mysteries, and strong heroines.

The Key to Deceit by Ashley Weaver is the second mystery in the Electra McDonnell series. In this mystery, Ellie McDonnell helps Major Ramsey track down the spies who are sharing information with the Germans.

This is the first I have read in this series and I absolutely loved it! I am so glad I picked up this book and I can’t wait to read the first in the series and any books to come. The characters are fun to get to know and I really enjoyed the premise of this book. It was fun to read about how Ellie and her family are turning over a new leaf and using their thieving skills for good. If you like wartime spies, strong female leads and an undertone of romance, this book is for you!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the audiobook version of this book!

The Key to Deceit by Ashley Weaver

Ellie McDonnell is recruited once again by Major Ramsey to aid in an investigation involving a murdered woman found floating in the Thames.
Ellie's experience in her family's less than legal business practices make her a valuable resource for the prickly Major. He needs help with lock picking as.well as information from some of Ellie's contacts.
The backdrop of London during WWII lends an atmosphere of overall danger, and the chemistry between Ellie and the Major adds a nice hint of romance.
The main characters and setting are my favorite aspects of the story, but the mystery was also interesting and well thought out.
The story felt fast paced, and I appreciated the humor sprinkled throughout.
The audiobook was performed by Alison Larkin and she did an excellent job bringing the characters to life.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the advance audio version of this book. All opinions are my own.

This was a fun historical fiction murder mystery. This is the second book in the Electra McDonnell series but I didn’t read the first and could easily follow along. I really liked Ellie’s character and found her tenacious and sassy. The relationship between Major Ramsey and Ellie is enjoyable and I’m sure is developed more in the first book which I’ll check out. I was really hoping for a romantic connection there but, alas, that was not where the story went. I liked that part of the story unfolded as air raids were happening in London, true to the actual time period.

This was terrific! I cringed at the “confession” scene (i always feel that’s bad writing; show don’t tell) but was surprised to learn who the ring leader was and enjoyed the story. It was a page turner for me and I adored Ellie. I had the impression this was a book 2 with the constant references of a previous case, so I’ll have to go back and look for #1. (It started to get a little annoying, the references) I’ll definitely continue this series and am very intrigued to see who she ends up with.

I also very much appreciate this wasn’t another “ww2” story; the way it was pinned down in WW2 time but not making it the focus was superb.

Thank you NetGallery and Ashley Weaver for allowing me to listen to this audiobook ARC.

Just this year I have started reading more historical fiction but never a mystery style, so I was beyond thrilled I got this chance. With this being said I have not read the first in the series but I don't think that held me back in understanding and enjoying this book.

We are following Ellie through quite a bit of action after she is asked to unlock a bracelet from a dead body found in the water - given that she is a locksmith who may or may not have used that to perform sketchy jobs in the past.

I will say at a spot or two I found myself a bit confused and wondering if we were taking notes from The Fast and Furious because of a twist that I just couldn't follow. But then I found myself invested in that scene and quickly forgetting about the confusion.

And what mystery would be complete without a love triangle? Do we want friends to lovers or enemies to lovers? The amount of shadow this love triangle casted on this book would make me think the ending would be very different.

Read if you:
like action packed chapters
love triangles
WWII historical fiction
badass woman in 1940

Well. Wow.

I was so into this book that I kept reading past the place I wanted to stop so I could read my other book. Finally, at an hour and a half left, I gave in and just listened and fully enjoyed, immersed in the world of Ellie and Major Ramsey and Uncle Mick and Naisey and the rest of the crew. And what a glorious ride this book was. I had really liked the first one, but this one sucked me in from the first page and I could barely put it down the first day of reading and clearly, the second day was meant simply for me to finish it. ;-)

I am relatively new to the historical mystery genre and I have to say that with the exception of only a couple series, I have been completely entranced by the genre and this book is one of the reasons why. It is books like this, meticulously researched, very real-to-life [yet often hilarious, just as life is] and a very good story-line [as well as the side mystery of Ellie's mom] are just so well done that you can barely believe that they aren't not real people and that this isn't happening in the now [though I am glad we are not living with bombs raining down on us at night - it makes me remember that there are still many who do and the gratefulness intensifies].

This is an excellent story - the team is dealing with spies this time, traitors to their country and the people that live there. The story is tragic as it unfolds, but the reveal makes it clear that no one deserves any remaining sympathy that you might still be harboring, as choices were made and the people involved were unapologetic up to the end. I had guessed near the beginning who the spies might be, but the author does red herrings very well, and I second guessed myself a couple of times. Silly me. ;-)

My only issue is there is the potential for a [STUPID] love triangle. I will say that the writing is very good and it doesn't bug me as much as that trope usually does. That says so much about how much I love this series. I just hope that it doesn't fully develop and that we can move on from this nonsense. I have always found love triangles to be lazy and sloppy writing and this is most definitely is not that. Ellie is not a silly girl and it is beneath her AND Felix and Major Ramsey to drag this out. They are too great of characters to subject them to this kind of trope.

I am so glad I took a chance on this series [I have had so many bombs lately, that this made me very nervous. I am SO not anymore!]. It is absolutely my new favorite and I will be waiting with baited breath for the next one in the series and will be recommending this to everyone I know [as well as diving into her other series]. Well done!! ♥

I was also granted a audiobook ARC and fellow readers, this was excellent. Alison Larkin is one of my all-time favorite narrators and I was beyond excited when I saw that she was the narrator of this series and I was not disappointed. Alison Larkin makes these stories and characters come alive and it is like she IS Ellie McDonnell and you just never want the story to end. I highly recommend that if you want to read this series to think about the audiobooks. You will not be sorry. ♥

Thank you to NetGalley, Ashley Weaver, Alison Larkin - Narrator, St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books, and Dreamscape Media for providing this ARC and audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fantastic audio narration of a great series. The Key to Deceit is the second book in the Electra McDonnell series, and it does not disappoint. Expanded review to come later. I received a free copy of this audiobook via Netgalley. My review is voluntary and my opinions are my own.

The Key to Deceit by Ashley Weaver is the second book in her Electra McDonnell mystery series. I did read book one, A Peculiar Combination, but I don't think it is necessary to have read it as I didn't remember much and still enjoyed this book.

I was looking forward to the second book in the series as I really liked the first book. It is set during one of my favorite time periods to read - WWII. It is also a little bit of a spy novel as Electra, or Ellie as she is called by her friends and family, comes from a family of safe crackers and is tapped by the Intelligence Service to aid in their investigations of spies on the homefront.

I did not enjoy this book as much as the first. I still loved the characters and it was great to catch up with them again. But the plot fell flat for me. Even though there were instances where they could be caught, there was no tension in the scenes for me. I never worried that they were in danger - which for me is one of the big appeals of spy novels.

A young woman is found dead and Major Ramsay calls on Ellie to retrieve a bracelet from the body, In the course of the investigation, they must play the part of husband and wife. At this point, the reader is thinking that asking for her help is just a flimsy excuse to spend time with Ellie. While Ellie wonders why he asked her to do something so simple, surely there are others under his command that could do that task, she is happy to be involved in another case. She also knows there is a growing attraction to the Major, but I don't think she realized that this may have just been more about seeing her than her skills.

I listened to the audiobook read by Alison Larkin when at the office and it was easy to listen to while working. I didn't have any trouble telling the characters apart or following the plot.

If you are looking for something that isn't too intense to read then you should try this book. The writing is good and the characters are interesting.

My review is published at Girl Who Reads - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2022/06/the-key-to-deceit-by-ashley-weaver.html

While I was unaware that this was not the first in a series, I want to say that this is one of those series that doesn’t need to be read in order - at least I had no problem keeping up and following along without having read book one.

This story is so interesting. I was sucked in immediately. I absolutely love the narrator - she does an amazing job telling this story. Thanks to NetGalley, I was able to enjoy it early in audio format and it’s great.

This story was fast paced and it made it easy to listen to. I wanted to continue listening and couldn’t wait to see what happened next! I love the mix of historical fiction with mystery - it was done very well!

If you enjoy mysteries or fact paced historical fiction, I think you’d enjoy this one!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Second in series.
Ste in London during WWII a family of thieves were caught and given the choice of helping the country or going to jail
Good interesting characters especially Ele and Major Ramsey.
Drama mystery,suspense twists,slight humor and maybe a beginning romance.
Really enjoyed the story and narration.
Voluntarily reviewed.

I loved the first book in this new series about Ellie McDonnell and her band of familial cohorts who were safe-crackers and thieves in a previous (yet recent) life. They had originally been sought out by Major Ramsey for their unique skills and subsequently blackmailed into helping the war cause. In this second outing, they are again summoned for their variety of knowledge in order to suss out a possible spy ring.

This story had a lighter touch compared to the first book, but I still enjoyed the different elements that came together to create the complete story. These elements are as follows: Ellie's family dynamics, Major Ramsey's special war department, the light love triangle, the main mystery within the book, and an overarching mystery concerning Ellie's mother. All together, they created an entertaining story, but I felt it lacked the amount of depth that the first book had. The overall story propels the series forward, but I would have loved more time spent in a few areas. Of course, since this is an ongoing mystery series, more will be developed as the stories continue. I do want to say, though romantic triangles are my enemy, they're often typical in cozy mysteries.

Weaver's second Ellie McDonnell mystery is even more fun than her first. Set early in WWII, lockpick Ellie has grown used to her new career picking locks for British Intelligence instead of for personal gain and enjoys deploying her talents legally for a change. This time Ellie, and her handler Major Ramsay are tracking down members of a spy ring sending photos to Germany. With a light touch, Weaver inserts humor into the text of a fast moving and well constructed plot. Characters are appealing, dialog believable, and danger abounds. Alison Larkin accomplishes a particularly fine performance as the voice of Electra. This cozy, despite its setting in war time London, is neither grim nor gory. Hints of romance and no vulgar language or explicit sex make this book appropriate for younger readers as well as its intended adult audience.

This was an interesting mystery mixed with some historical fiction based in 1940 London, England. This story is surrounded by the middle of World War II, with experiences of rations, enemy spies, poverty and air raids.

I did not love the book, but it was an enjoyable listen, while trying to figure out who was the spy amongst them and following the bread crumbs to the crime. There was a strong sense of loyalty to the country and the characters were very strong if you consider the times they were in and still pulled together to help their country, although walls were crumbling around them.