Electra McDonnell is headed to Portugal to search for her cousin in this fifth and last book in her series. Ellie comes from a long line of thieves. She is an expert at picking locks. She is recruited by Major Ramsey and British Intelligence during World War II. But, in the last book, Ellie discovered that her father might have been a German agent in World War I. Also, she and Major Ramsey had a falling out in the last book and she is no longer working with him. That might be okay, except for the fact that she has fallen in love.

But she is contacted by Captain Blanding, another officer in British Intelligence. Ellie's cousin, Toby, who was captured at Dunkirk, has allegedly escaped. He is working his way towards Lisbon. Blanding needs Ellie to come with him to welcome Toby and take steps to keep the Nazis from discovering the prisoner escape route. Complicating things is the fact that Ramsey is also headed to Lisbon on a mission.

I love this series. The historical elements of life in London during the Blitz are compelling. The characters are engaging. Ellie and her family are a lot of fun to follow. Her romance with Major Ramsey offers another level of suspense and romance. I highly recommend that the reader starts with the first book in the series and works their way through this, the final book.

Great conclusion to the series. I will miss Electra and Gabriel. I feel like Felix’s arc could have been better explored, but I’m happy with the ending.

Great continuation of a great series. There is so much more to this character and look forward to getting into some of the earlier books.

This book was absolutely everything that I wanted it to be and the perfect end to a perfect series.

I just love Electra’s journey as she becomes more confident in her skills and work. She is intelligent, feisty, and just played kick butt.

The cast of characters is everything enchanting and engaging. They bring such life to the story and I love them.

And don’t get me started on the romance. I’m still not over it!

The perfect ending to the series! I do think the overarching mystery wrapped up a little too quickly and neatly for most people’s taste. It felt a bit like an afterthought as a large focus of this book was on Ellie and the Major’s relationship. If that’s not your jam, you might think it’s a bit unfulfilling of an ending but I ate it up. I’ll just be over here giggling and kicking my feet while I wish I could read the series for the first time again!

I enjoyed the Amory Ames series, but I’ve been completely hooked on Electra McDonnell since its debut. In fact, I even track the release dates in my calendar! As you can imagine, I’ve been anticipating One Final Turn for months. However, knowing that this is the final book in the series, I also wanted to savor every moment of it, taking my time to appreciate the story as it played out.

I found myself so immersed in the story that I almost read the entire book in one sitting! Ashley Weaver has such a knack for creating tension and excitement as well as great characters that it was almost impossible to put it down. I woke up early just to finish it.

Thank you to Macmillan and Net Galley for the opportunity to review the book. It was a treat.

WHAT AN ENDING! I've loved this entire series and this was the perfect ending to it! We get to see it come all together and plus Ramsey is just the swooniest guy in the world.

A page-turning story and a satisfying ending to the series -- although I'll sure miss Electra and the Major! I would have read this series for many more books. I appreciate the way the author weaves in historical research without it feeling dry. I love WW2 history but I had never read about Portugal's neutral role in the war, or about it being a bastion of spycraft and asylum-seeking, until this book. I recommend reading these books in order, but it won't take you long ... the stories fly by and you'll enjoy every minute.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the previous books in this series and was thrilled to receive this ARC. The first 1/3 or so of the novel was a little slow going for me; I felt like it was doing a lot of rehashing from other novels in the series without moving this plot along. But things picked up! Shifting the action to Lisbon was a fun development and most of the plot lines are wrapped up satisfactorily for a series conclusion. I will miss Ellie and the full cast of characters that have been so well written over this series!

The final book in a series usually has a lot of build up and anticipation as it not only has to tie up all loose ends, both practical and personal, and end the story arcs in a realistic but satisfying way, but it also has to be a good enough read to live up to all the previous books in the series. The fifth McDonnell book lives up to the challenge. The new setting of Lisbon makes for a change and helps us see a new side of the protagonist.

I won't go into detail to avoid spoilers, but the resolution to many of the problems and conflicts along the way was well done and tied everything up neatly before the series ended (but not so neatly as to be overly predictable and not worth reading, luckily).

I would definitely recommend reading this series in order as the relationships and some of the conflicts are established book by book so you would miss out on a lot of background knowledge otherwise.

I loved every second of this book! It was the perfect ending to the series. At the end of book four there are still a lot of unanswered questions, but I felt that Weaver did an excellent job in tying up all the loose ends in a way that felt satisfying and realistic.

A thoroughly satisfying conclusion to a delightful series. I loved the CASABLANCA vibes of the setting, and the payoff of Ramsey and Ellie's will-they-won't-they romance was well worth the wait.

The final volume of the Ellie McDonnell series ends the way fans have been wanting! This is the second series of Weaver’s I have read ravenously. Amory Ames was her first series and I was very sad to see the end of the series just like I am sad to say good by the Ellie and Ramsey but they deserve their HEA.
This has all the action and ups and downs of the classic spy movie plus the romantic ending fans hoped for. Can’t wait to read the next series by Ashley Weaver.

This was fun! I had been in a reading slump, and this book series helped me get out of it. They were engaging, cozy reads with a little bit of a spy thriller thrown in. I am almost always here for a story of a criminal using their nefarious skills for good! Most of the character growth for Ellie and the Major happens in this novel. I would have liked a little more development there, but it didn't stop me from cheering them on. We do get a bit more from Ellie as she considers what living on the right side of the law would mean for her.

This book does feel a little rushed as all the threads are brought to resolution, and maybe things are resolved too neatly for real life, but I'm okay with that in this kind of novel. If you're looking for an easy-to-read, engaging WWII mystery series, check this one out.

Content guide: No on-page swearing or spice. There are some fade-to-black, consensual romance scenes. Non-graphic action violence occurs.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

⭐️ 5♾️/5. The final installment of Electra McDonald’s adventures was honestly my favorite one out of all 5! It had the most action, the greatest amount of character development, so much excitement, and a happy ending!

With exciting points like:

🩵 Traveling to Portugal to help POWs escape occupied France

🩵 Marriage of convenience

🩵 Resolution of the series’ love triangle

🩵 Mystery around every corner

This is a cozy mystery/action series I will be recommending to everyone! Thank you so much to Ashley Weaver, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for this advanced ARC. This was one of my most-anticipated reads of 2025 so it was such an honor to read it early! I will never stop talking about this series 😍

I do have to admit that this was my first book in the series, but I was no less totally enthralled by the book. The author does a great job catching you up throughout the book so I didn’t feel lost in the story line. I am happy that I started with the last book because it sounds like too much a wait to watch Electra and Ramsey’s ending. I don’t like slow burns and so just reading the last book is perfect for me LOL!

This story is a page turner from the first page to the last. My favorite books are those that I don’t know the beginning from the end. I read it in 2 days, which for this busy mom of 4 that is FAST! There were so many twists and turns and it kept me hooked. The adventure and the romance was perfectly mixed together.

I was truly transported to 1941 Lisbon and now I want to go there on my next vacation. Such a cool piece of history weaved throughout the book with this neutral city in the War.

Another gauge I have when reviewing a book is if I think about the characters post reading and yes I can say I am still thinking about these characters. Others may call this a book hangover.

**This is a closed door romance, but I would put it at 18+ due to a few of the scenes but I definitely view things like this through the eyes of a mom and when I would feel comfortable with my daughter reading the kissing/violence scenes.

Thank you Minotaur Books for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5, rounded up

I loved this series, and I'm sad that it's over - I was so excited when my request to get the ARC was approved. That said, if you haven't read the other books in the series, I wouldn't recommend starting with this book, as the history of the characters and events will make more sense if you read them in order.

This was a fitting end to Electra's story. She finally gets to find out what happened to her missing cousin Toby, has closure on the lingering mystery surrounding her father's death, and resolves her feelings for Ramsey. I did feel it started out a bit too slowly, as the reader is waiting to see how all these disparate elements will come together, and it seemed to be taking too long, but rest assured, the ending paid off. There's a bit less straight up mystery here and a bit more of an intelligence operation/rescue, but that was fine by me. Electra travels to exotic Lisbon for this one, and the change of scenery is exciting both for her and for the reader.

I still can't quite put my finger on why I like this series so much more than others of its ilk, but I definitely do. Now that Electra's story has concluded, I'm hoping that Ashley Weaver continues her mystery writing with another series, as I've really enjoyed both her efforts so far. I look forward to seeing what she'll do next.

Thanks to Ashley Weaver, Netgalley, and Minutaur books for this Digital ARC.

A fitting end to a fantastic series... what a ride! We find Electra back for another adventure trying to find her cousin Toby, missing since the Battle of Dunkirk. After the way book 3 ended... we know working with Major Ramsey again will have some serious tension. Don't miss this series, but start with book one! You won't regret it.

Thanks Ashley Weaver for a wonderful series! So sad to see Electra go.

A fantastic conclusion to a fantastic series. Former thief and safecracker turned espionage agent Electra McDonnell is brought back in for one last mission, even after Major Ramsey fired her after their last mission. She’s needed on a covert mission to Lisbon, hoping to find her cousin who’s believed to have escaped from Nazi imprisonment. How can she say no, despite being furious with Major Ramsey and heartbroken by his rejection.

I really enjoyed the spy elements of this adventure, got very attached to all the characters, and loved the way mysteries, tensions and storylines from the very beginning of the series were wrapped up. I did sort of predict the bad guy in Lisbon (it was a wee bit telegraphed?), but was shocked by the reveal of who was behind the overarching mystery of Electra’s parents.

I was so very thrilled to get an advanced copy of One Final Turn from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. I was not looking forward to waiting until June 2025, but wasn’t super hopeful since I haven’t done ARC reviews for NetGalley since 2018 😬.

While I am thrilled that I received an advance copy of this book to read, I am sad that Electra's WWII adventures have come to an end. The characters in this entire series are well developed, the mythology aspect adds interest, the plot lines are intriguing, the mystery of Electra's back story is compelling, and the added romance was a pleasing addition. Although Electra's adventures are over, the end of this series is very satisfying. I hope Ashley Weaver begins another series soon and gives us a character as fascinating as Electra and a plot that is as equally engaging! I highly recommend this novel and the entire series to anyone who enjoys a strong female protagonist in historical fiction. My sincere thanks to the author and Minotaur publishing for offering me an ARC of this novel.