I started and finished This Side of Murder in the same day, which should tell you how sucked in I was. I made the mistake of finishing it late at night, and the last third of the book made me so apprehensive that I lightly jogged to my bedroom!
This is the first novel in the Verity Kent series by Anna Lee Huber, and we’re introduced to our heroine at a post-WWI house party. Verity is a war widow, like so many others after the fighting stopped, and has accepted her invitation to the house party in her husband’s stead – and at the behest of mysterious letters she’s been receiving, insinuating that her husband was not all he seemed.
She’s surprised to find that the other guests at the house party are part of the host’s (and her husband’s) former army regiment; as England is trying to pick itself back up from the war, most soldiers don’t want to be reminded of the fighting. But, everything at the party is not what it seems. As guests start disappearing, and tensions run high, Verity strives to figure out the answer of her husband’s death before more men are lost.
I really enjoyed this book. As a loyal follower of Anna Lee Huber’s Lady Darby series (which is an awesome series set in the 18th century, by the way), I kept my eyes peeled for similarities between Verity and Lady Darby, but I didn’t find many. I was really impressed by that, as it showed such wide range and flexibility in Huber’s writing. The plot was as flawless as any Lady Darby novel, and Huber’s heroine and romantic counterpart just as captivating. If I had read this novel without knowing who the author was, I don’t know that I would have guessed it was Huber. I respect that a lot and am glad to feel like I’m reading a totally different series.
I thought the plot of this novel was well-done, as well as the character of Verity. She’s still struggling with losing her husband over a year ago, and hasn’t been dealing with her grief in the healthiest of ways (partying, drinking, etc.), which I think is something readers can relate to. She meets a charming officer at the house party, Max, but is having difficulty with the idea of getting closer to him because of the memory of her husband. Faced with the rest of his regiment and old friends over the weekend, Verity faces many difficult memories with aplomb, and readers see just what an admirable character Huber has created. I plan to read the next book as soon as I can get a hold of it!