Wartime spy turned sleuth Verity Kent continues to captivate in MURDER MOST FAIR, book 5 in Anna Lee Huber’s fantastic historical mystery series Verity Kent Mysteries.  This delightful murder mystery saga features a post-WWI Secret Service agent who is still entangled in a looming diabolical plot to discredit her wartime work by an English Naval Intelligence traitor who has it out for Verity.  In the midst of trying to foil this traitor’s unfolding dastardly plot (which is an overarching story arc throughout the series), Verity and her husband, Sidney Kent, manage to solve murders around the English countryside.

Sidney is a dashing war hero, who pretended to be dead for 15 months in order to uncover British turncoats overseas.  Sidney and Verity were married only briefly before he left for the trenches in France, and they continue to struggle to build their marriage despite the many traumas the war and their separation inflicted upon them individually and upon their marriage.  The strength of these books lies in the interpersonal relationships, with the stark and gripping portrayals of those struggling with the extensive traumas from the war. Huber does a fantastic job in evoking the historical time with rich detail and settings, as well.

“Beautiful and intrepid Verity,” as the newspapers refer to her, is a complex and intelligent woman who has enough courage and brashness to get herself in and out of all sorts of dangerous situations.  She is, in a word, delightful.  This time, Verity’s German great-aunt has fled war-devastated Germany and turns up on Verity’s parents’ doorstep in Yorkshire.  When her great-aunt’s maid is murdered, Verity and Sidney step up to discover the villain.  The intricate mystery has plenty of twists and surprises, and a crime-solving couple at the center of the action that provides all the interpersonal drama the discerning reader could want.  MURDER MOST FAIR continues Huber’s excellent historical mystery series success, with plenty of suspense and historical flair.