Playing It Safe: An Electra McDonnell Novel

(Hardback)

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Description

As the Blitz continues to ravage London, Ellie McDonnell is approached by British Intelligence officer Major Ramsey with a new assignment. She is to travel under an assumed identity to the port city of Sunderland and there await further instructions. Ellie, ever-ready to aid her country, heads north, her safecracking tools in tow. But before she can rendezvous with the major, she witnesses an unnatural death. A man falls dead in the street in front of her, with a mysterious missive clutched in his hand. Ellie's instincts tell her that the man's death is connected in some way to her mission. Reunited with Major Ramsey, the pair discovers that the dead man had ties to a counterfeiting operation, supplying German spies with fraudulent British currency to use in their operations. Even more troubling, it quickly becomes apparent someone high-up in the operation is helping to smuggle those spies into England across the North Sea. Soon, Ellie and the major are locked in a battle of wits and a race against time with an unknown and deadly adversary. With German bombs dropping on the city and a would-be assassin shadowing their every move, it will take all of Ellie's resourcefulness and Major Ramsey's fortitude to unmask the spymaster and avert disastrous consequences-for England and for their own lives.

Reviews

"Weaver populates this bright, fast-paced thriller with engagingly flawed characters and breathless action. Readers will delight at the dynamic between the leads and look forward to future adventures."--Publishers Weekly (starred)

"Weaver has a knack for tying up her readers with thin threads of clues--just enough to let the reader unwind and believe they know what the outcome is, only to be tied up again in a new chapter."--New York Journal of Books

"Mystery, romance, and adventure aplenty in a rousing wartime setting."--Kirkus Reviews

Praise for the Electra McDonnell series:

"A thorny relationship between Ellie and Ramsey, a cast of colorful characters, a brisk pace, and an ironic message about the identity of true patriots enthrall."--Publishers Weekly (Starred) on A Peculiar Combination

"Ellie is wonderfully resourceful and divinely funny. Let's hope this expertise-and-romance-filled series continues for a very long time."--Booklist (Starred) on The Key to Deceit

"Competing romances, slippery spies, and the horrors of the Blitz combined in an exciting mystery/adventure."--Kirkus Reviews on The Key to Deceit

"Infused with witty romantic conflict, this historical mystery with convincing period details concludes with enticing story threads for future entries. For fans of Susan Elia MacNeal and Allison Montclair."--Library Journal on A Peculiar Combination

"An exciting yarn filled with narrow escapes, revised strategies and a snapshot of London in August 1940, a month before the Blitz began."--Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star on A Peculiar Combination

"A cracking good mystery! Ellie is a smart and gutsy new heroine, and takes them on an adventure filled with clever twists, flourishes of romance, and her signature sparkling wit."--Anna Lee Huber, bestselling author of the Lady Darby Mysteries

"Filled with wry humor, tight suspense, a delightful cast of characters, and a bit of budding romance."--Alyssa Maxwell, author of The Gilded Newport Mysteries and A Lady's Maid Mysteries

Author Bio

ASHLEY WEAVER (she/her) is the technical services coordinator at the Allen Parish Libraries in Oberlin, Louisiana. Weaver has worked in libraries since she was fourteen; she was a page and then a clerk before obtaining her MLIS from Louisiana State University. She is the author of the Amory Ames series and the Electra McDonell series.