Thank you, Ashley Weaver, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for the gifted copy of Playing It Safe, the third novel in Weaver’s Electra McDonnell series. I am leaving this review voluntarily and enthusiastically, as I really liked this novel. I give it 4.5/5 stars.
Ellie McDonnell is once again summoned by Major Ramsey, this time to take a trip to the countryside to enjoy some birdwatching and make friends – and pick locks, crack safes, and foil plots while she’s at it. She’s not long into the town of Sunderland when a young man literally drops dead outside of her boarding house. With no word from Ramsey, she decides to gather information while she waits to be contacted. Soon, she’s reunited with the Major, and their suspicions – and feelings – lead to more complexity than they wanted to deal with.
Whew, is what I can say after reading Playing It Safe. I am all aflutter. Weaver is fast-paced with her plots, something I noticed in her Amory Ames series, and the Electra McDonnell series is no different. I’d rather be moved along than have things really drag out (this is something I’ve noted in my reviews of the Verity Kent series as well). The trouble with this is that I’d like the next five books to already be written so I can speed through them! Weaver has left us with a massive cliffhanger at the end of this novel, so I’ll have to wait as patiently as I can until the next installment.
We see some major (pun intended) progression in Ellie and the Major’s semi-cordial working relationship in Playing It Safe. Felix is off in Scotland but we get a feeling that relationship has deepened. Finally, we get a new, but startling, nugget about what really happened to Ellie’s mother. All three of these progressions are unresolved and are To Be Continued in the next book (you’re killing me, Weaver!).
A personal note: you all know that I read historical romance, as well, so all of me is 100% rooting for Ellie and the Major. I will be sorely disappointed if they do not get married by the end of this series. However, this is first and foremost a mystery/suspense series, so that may not be the direction we’re headed. But, I’m still hoping.
If you’re liking what you’re hearing about Playing it Safe but haven’t read the first two books in the series, I highly recommend going back and reading those first. This series is more of a builder than the Amory Ames series and there’s some relevant information and relationship-building in the beginning. You could read this on its own, but you won’t be as invested!
I’d like to comment on the differences between the Amory Ames series and the Electra McDonnell series. These two are nothing alike. Amory was posh, Electra common, Amory upstanding, Electra a thief, etc. The voices of the two characters are not remotely similar. I like the Electra McDonnell series more. The Ames are fantastic, and they’re one of the few series that my Cozy Mystery Readers group all loved. But, the difference for me is that because Electra is common, she has freedom. Amory had an image to maintain for the society pages, as do all posh sleuths. Electra can just come and go and be free to be her own person.
However – however – I don’t want to sound disparaging about the Ames because they are really well-written and are great mysteries. It’s really well done. Electra is just a personal preference (and who doesn’t love a good love triangle?). If you’re in the market for more of Ashley Weaver, try her Amory Ames series!
I do want to give Weaver mad props for Amory Ames because she is a married lady sleuth. Granted, her marriage isn’t the most stable, but you see her with her husband all the time. I think she’s one of the few ladies that started out her series already married. A lot of the lady sleuths I’ve read are either widowed (Lady Emily [Tasha Alexander]), or unmarried (Maisie Dobbs [Jacqueline Winspear]) at the start of their series. I appreciate that Amory busted the mold of the unmarried lady detective.