The Cold Light of Day by Anna Lee Huber (A Verity Kent Mystery Book 7)

 

Publication Date: 

September 24, 2024

Length:

402 pages

Summary:

Verity Kent and her husband Sydney are in Dublin working with the Secret Service on several investigations. Verity's friend Alec is missing having gone dark on his latest mission, they are trying to locate poisonous gas containers held by an arch enemy, Lord Ardmore, and then an official wants them to find out who assaulted their daughter. There is tension between husband and wife due to their having been apart for various reasons past and Verity's seemingly romantic entanglement with the man, Alec they are searching for. As the story unfolds the couple has to put aside their resentments and doubts to work together. It is obvious they love one another deeply but have somewhat separate lives as well, making it hard to be of one mind sometimes. 

Verity ventures out on the streets in disguise, often risking personal harm to investigate. The British and IRA are constantly battling each other and even in daylight it can be dangerous on the streets of Dublin if one does not know how to navigate the politics. Add to that the Kents are well known in upper society and therefore hard to blend into the shadows, and they must tread lightly in order to get to the bottom of their missions and not call too much aggressive attention to themselves. 

Dedicated to their own agendas they also have sympathy for the people caught in the middle. It is hard for them to watch as local people are intimidated by the conflict and it shows through in the thoughts of the main characters as they go about their search.

My Thoughts:

I received this from NetGalley as an ARC and was excited to get it. Unfortunately I found the story both interesting and extremely hard to follow. I honestly tried to go back and re-read certain parts but not having the background from the first books really hindered things. I think the author does an amazing job of giving historical information about the IRA, Michael Collins, and the conflict of the time. Something which has lasted through the modern day now. I can see how if you know the backstory from the other books this one would really captivate you. So my negatives have nothing to do with the writing, descriptions of the time, or the story. 

There were lots of rabbit trails that kept me guessing. I enjoyed the relationship between Verity and Sydney as well and their devotion to each other. I can see how people would be attached to this series and I plan to start with book one and go from there. This is a great spy mystery series......but.... start with book one first.