This work read very much like a 1940s spy novel or British movie. It was easy to imagine how the characters behaved and acted like the ones we watch in old black and white or film nor movies. Easy to follow plot. Like the setting in Lisbon. Bit of a different twist to WWII traditional settings. Ending made it seem like a squirrel is coming.

A Dark and Deadly Journey is book three in the Evelyn Redfern series. I hadn't read the first two, but still enjoyed this wonderful historical fiction mystery.

I won't give a synopsis since the book description dies a much better job than I could ever do, but this is definitely worth the read if you enjoy historical fiction. I rated it a strong four stars.

Thank you Netgalley for the digital ARC of A Dark and Deadly Journey,b which releases in September 2025.

Evelyne and David are special agents for the British during World War II. They are sent to Lisbon to investigate the disappearance of one of their agents. Privately, Evelyne is also looking for her father. The characters are flat, the story was predictable, the writing was appropriate for a fifth grader. The story ended with an unexpected cliff hanger, but I didn't care. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc with no pressure for a positive review,

this was such a perfect addition to evelyne's story.

i adored how she's really coming into her own as an agent, as well as seeing her partnership with david grow. it truly felt as though their relationship became closer without compromising either characters' own personalities.

julia kelly manages to write such fun who-done-its while still maintaining that air of seriousness and reality for the time period.

and the ENDING??? i was only a little surprised, but disappointed in the best of ways. it only makes me eager for book four.

Two purposes take British Special Investigations agent Evelyne Redfern to Lisbon. There is her official mission: to track down a missing informant with crucial intelligence on German plans. And then there is the personal mission no one knows about: findout out just what her father is up to. Before they even leave the airport, Evelyne discovers a murder and a diary linking the victim to their case, putting their mission at risk from the start. Evelyne and her charming partner David must rely on their wits while racing to uncover the truth.

I have been waiting for the next adventure of Evelyne and this did not disappoint. It was fun watching Evelyne try to juggle two investigations that connect. I did feel as though she should have confided in David sooner, because he was understandably annoyed when he learned.

There were a lot of details to keep track of, but not so much that it was impossible to make my own deductions. The only annoyance I had was with the ending. It perfectly sets up the next book and I cannot wait to read it!

This is a fun addition to the series and any reader who enjoys cozy historical mysteries will definitely enjoy this one.

Absolutely loved this third book in the series!! They just keep getting better and better! Cannot wait for more adventures!


I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by NetGalley.

Book 3 in the Evelyn’s Redfern Mysteries did not disappoint. I so enjoyed the first 2 books I could not wait to read this one. However, I do want to mention each book can be read as a standalone. Once again the story is filled with twists. Evelyn and her partner David Poole are sent to Lisbon on a mission. Amongst the espionage there is a family component. I want the series to continue!

Thank you #NetGalley, #MinotaurBooks, #JuliaKelly and #ADarkandDeadlyJourney for the advance copy for my honest review.

Evelyne Redfern is slowly losing her mind from boredom at a desk job with the SIU while she recovers from the gunshot wound she received at the end of the mission at Blackthorn Park. When she is given an official assignment to find a missing informant located in Lisbon, Portugal, it dovetails with the unofficial mission she has been given by Mr. Fletcher - find her father and see if he would be useful as a British asset among the glitterati of the Lisbon scene. Of course, the unofficial assignment is complicated by the fact that she is not supposed to share it with her partner David Poole, which Mr. Fletcher strongly enforces by telling Evelyne that if push comes to shove that David "will always choose adherence to the rules over anything else".

They have barely arrived in Lisbon when Evelyne has the misfortune to come across yet another dead body - this time a man murdered on the very airplane they arrived on and bearing a diary (what we Americans would call an agenda or a planner) that directly mentions the missing informant. The Portuguese officials detain her and David under suspicion of murder and it takes the intervention of the head of one of the local British SIU offices to get them out of detention. Once properly into the city of Lisbon itself, Evelyne is dismayed to find that her counterparts of the local office are not nearly as keen as she is to investigate the murder. In fact, the local head of office, Mr. Phillips, is positively icy about it. Soon, Evelyne and David are balancing their official assignment with the murder investigation while Evelyne also pursues avenues to find Sir Reginald unbeknownst to David. With all of these complications, can any of their missions be accomplished?

I received an advance digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. There were tons of typographical errors in the advance digital copy, but I assumed that those will be fixed before the official version goes to print and did not count it against my opinion of the book.

Much like the first two books in the series, I read this one very quickly. Sadly, I didn't like this one as well as the first two. This was mostly because Evelyne and David weren't at all subtle in their investigation and it seemed like most of the people they spoke with should have known that they weren't who they claimed to be. This should have led to a whole bunch of people clamming up instead of admitting all sorts of things to complete strangers who were also foreigners. Still, it was an entertaining read and quite a few action scenes were in this one, particularly near the end. I thought they were well-written. So, if you enjoy a historical murder mystery, this is definitely worth a read.

I like to encourage my students to read books that will teach them things as well as entertain and historical fiction/mysteries can do that. It is an easy book to read, though some things too many characters. I hadn't read the first two books but it was fine to read this one. Sometimes historical books seem a little naive/over simplified, in this case the story of an agent during WW!!, but that might a problem I have with the genre, it also reads like a cozy mystery.

First, thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5, rounded up to 4

I continue to enjoy the WW2 covert spy setting of this series. In this installment, Evelyn travels to Portugal, which is a hotbed of clandestine activity for both sides. To top it off, she's juggling her actual mission and a secret mission of her own bound up in her father's activities. Then, a murder happens the moment she and her partner David arrive, leading to more twists. What I like about the series is that while Evelyn does sometimes make mistakes, they make sense in context. Some mysteries make the sleuths outright stupid, so it's hard to root for them. Not so, here. Evelyn is understandably pulled in two directions - her personal quest to locate her father and her professional assignment - leading to some tough decisions and conflicting loyalties, which adds nice complexity to the story.

That said, all those different agendas does lead to the story sometimes feeling like it's spinning its wheels a bit. You're left unsure as to which mystery you should be caring about or focused on at any give time and eventually, at least for me, they all kind of blend together. It's also a little hard to swallow that David, Evelyn's more experienced partner, would miss so much and need Evelyn to explain it to him, an issue I had with the prior book also. Of course, Evelyn is the main character and needs our focus, but David needs a bit more to do. This book did start to make some moves in that direction near the end, so I hope in future books his character gets more developed.

If you're into historical mysteries, this series does WW2 era spies well. You could start here, and I don't think you'd be confused, but I'd recommend starting with the first book in the series to have more context.

I had not read the the first 2 books in this series. I found the setting and plot quite interesting and intriguing. It was suspenseful certainly and the time period well described but I. felt set-up by the ending. I don't think I'll be interested in what happens to Miss Redfern in the future.

Secret agent Evelyne Redfern does her bit for England during World War II with style.

Dispatched to Portugal with her partner to locate a missing informant, she also has the remit to find out what her father is up to. Sir Reginald is a loathsome scoundrel who calls on his daughter only when he can use her assistance.

When she isn't chasing leads, Evelyne spends time in the casino and in the company of a princess. There's a little romance and several murders before the suspenseful ending.

Fast paced and lots of fun.

A Dark and Deadly Journey, book 3 in Julia Kelly’s suspenseful series about British WWII SIU agents Evelyne Redfern and her partner David Poole will definitely leave you hoping book 4 comes quickly. Evelyne and David are sent undercover to Lisbon in search of a missing informant. Unknown to David when their adventure begins is that Evelyne also is hoping to find information about her long estranged father. So many secrets; so many lies; so many murders. Readers should be prepared to want to read from start to finish in one sitting. I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book from NetGalley. Most highly recommend.

Thank you to St. Martins Press/Minotaur for a free early electronic copy via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Book 3 in the Evelyn Redfern Mystery Series has our intrepid spy Evelyn showing some growth of character. Introduced into the secretive SIU service for Great Britain during WWII in book one and out of duty via a gunshot wound by the end of book two. Book 3 has Evelyn adopting a false name as she and her once again partner, David Poole, travel to Portugal. The locale is a den of spies and also supplies a beautiful backdrop for the shenanigans taking place. A simple find-the-missing-spy turns out to be much more than anticipated. In fact, things are going to get personal for Miss Redfern.

Being a woman in the 1940's in the spy business has Redfern fighting both the patriarchy and spies. As the Redfern character grows, so do her responses to her situations as a female. Also, the will they, won't they between Redfern and Poole is continued but with Evelyn considering the repercussions to her alone. What is a cool twist is when Evelyn decides to withhold info from her partner. She is finding ways to be a leader or at least equal in this partnership.

As with the previous two installations, there is a cliffhanger at the end. Somewhat surprising one, at that. Not everyone is a fan of Evelyne Redfern. Stayed tune.

I've enjoyed the first two books in the Evelyne Redfern series, but Julia Kelly's third book is the best one of them yet, in my opinion. Freshly recovered from taking a bullet during her last mission, Eve receives a mysterious note from her father, Sir Reginald, that leads her to a safe deposit box that contains a note and her mother's jewelry that she thought he sold years ago. Follow-up on her part leads to more mysterious circumstances and a conversation with the head of SIU about what her father might be up to. It also helps land her on an assignment with her partner David Poole in Lisbon, Portugal, where an informant providing helpful information has disappeared into thin air. Originally instructed to hide her investigation into what her father is up to from her partner, increasing evidence that connects him not only to the crime they came to investigate, but the murder of a fellow passenger on their flight to Lisbon, forces Eve to loop David in on Sir Reginald. Winn, the informant, is nowhere to be found, bodies are piling up, and both the Portuguese government and a Nazi have Eve in their sights.

I love that Kelly made Lisbon the setting of this story. Few books that take place during World War II are set here, and the few that I've read tell a fascinating story of decadence combined with the constant chess moves of people in the country from Axis and Allies countries. She also continues to hike the romantic tension between Eve and David, teasing the will they/won't they element of the series. And the ending? The conclusion of the mystery itself creates a dramatic conclusion, but what happens after leaves me on the edge of my seat for what will happen in the next book of the series.

A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for allowing me to read A Dard and Deadly Journey. This is another installment in the Evelyne Redfern series and boy, is it a page turner!! I could not put this book down! This book captured my attention right away and then held it through to the breathtaking finish. Ms. Kelly has me on tenterhooks waiting for the next installment. This is a book you do not want to miss.

Thank you to NetGalley and to St. Martin's Press for the ARC of A Dark and Deadly Journey by Julia Kelly.

I absolutely love this series, and, with Ashley Weaver's Electra McDonnell series having just completed, Kelly's Evelyne Redfern series seems to be the only well-written, recently published WWII adjacent cozy murder mystery series remaining on the market (I looked a lot to find others and haven't). I read this book in one sitting, so excited, knowing it was about to break me from a ten day reading slump. It was great to once again feel the simmering tension between Evelyne and David, to be on the trail of more elusive actions from Evelyne's deadbeat father, and to be dodging Nazi spies in a cool new location.

That being said, I am rounding this down to 3.5 stars on the overall scale. There were just a few midseries issues with this addition that forced me to struggle with my overall enjoyment at the end. I will write about these further to the publisher, but, to speak very generally to avoid spoilers, it felt the mystery/murder and the new location were not really about the mystery/murder at all, but in about setting up for book 4. Book 3 is really just a vehicle to get us to book 4 which is going to be incredible and action packed and full of betrayal and reckonings and more - but book 3 had to make that leap for readers. I just think the leap wasn't the most elegant or the most well thought out, and, in its own way, I couldn't right the mystery of this book in my head to actually have any real stakes or purpose overall, it felt very flimsy -- which made me feel a bit disappointed.

Now, a LOT happens in the final few chapters of this novel that both finally give us more about Evelyne's father and lead to a shocking ending (again, book 4 is going to be a real banger). I appreciated this escalation and the new things we learn, and, I recognize this is where we all realize the true story of this book is the background and things really start to come together. That being said, I wish we had gotten more from these pieces now instead of having to wait for the next book. This is really hard to write in a review because I don't want to spoil anyone's experience, but I hope it resonates with other readers.

I think this is the book that really made me realize Evelyne is a bit of a pawn in her own life -- her father has sent her a key at the end of the last book and we pick up there with her being his de facto errand girl, she is given an assignment around him and told she will be disavowed if it gets out but also that the information is wanted by higher-ups, and more develops as the book goes on. At the end, I think we see in general just how women were treated in this time period, but also that for all of Evelyne's hard work, most people see her as expendable even if she does a good job. It seems like the only trustworthy people she really has are Moira and her aunt, and yet this job is what keeps her distant from the people who seem to really have her best interests at heart. I expect we'll dive deeper into this in the next book, but it did make me sad for Evelyne and women everywhere.

My other mild issue is that the final Electra McDonnell book came out in May 2025, and it too had Lisbon as the location and some similar overarching plots/general locations. Obviously if it's historical fiction city centers and the experience of the time are going to be similar, but there were certain aspects that I think still felt like too much overlap in books that are coming out 6 months apart from each other when they're the only two major players in this genre/time at the moment. I still think the Lisbon location for both is really interesting because I don't think many know about it and it makes for a great break from the Blitz - I just wish two books of two great series weren't so crowded against each other like this.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Minotaur for the eARC of the book; all opinions are my own.


I gasped when I read the final pages of the book. WHAT A CLIFFHANGER. And those final pages really placed the mystery of this particular book into a broader context, and sets up for what I expect will be an excellent book four in the series.

But focusing in on this particular book: I am really enjoying the ongoing character development of Evelyne Redfern as she takes on a new undercover assignment, working with her partner, David. I also enjoy the growing attraction between the two of them, which helps to add some tension to the book.
The mystery in this book was well laid out, with the clues clearly leading to the identification of the suspect. I suspected the person from very early on, but it was still interesting to see how Evelyne and David figured it out, and who all was involved.

I enjoyed the setting in Lisbon, Portugal - still during WWII - as it provided a different context for the story given Portugal was officially neutral during the war, thus making for a very different experience for people living or visiting there.

I barely put this book down as I was hooked so early and just wanted to stay until the very end.

This series has become one of my favourites and I will happily be recommending this book and the whole series to readers.

Interesting introduction to this new (to me) historical fiction series set during WWII. The Portugal location was a new twist to the genre. An interesting mystery with a great ending leading to the next volume.

I absolutely devoured A Dark and Deadly Journey! Evelyne Redfern is back, and is as fearless and witty as ever. This time, she’s off to Lisbon with her partner David Poole, and things go sideways immediately. There’s murder, espionage, secret diaries, and a glamorous and dangerous setting that pulls you in fast. Julia Kelly does such a great job mixing historical details with a fast paced plot.