Julia Kelly is known to those who have read her previous books as someone who not only does meticulous research, but also writes compelling historical fiction about fascinating moments in time with a style that is both engaging and thrilling, and always thoughtful. “A Traitor in Whitehall” is her first book in what promises to be a series of mysteries that are set during WWII England. Kelly’s extremely effective writing places us readers in the action, in the feelings that those people felt, in the experiences that they experienced. This first entry, obviously, is set in London, in the underground offices of government at Whitehall, where staff worked in shifts and slept there while on shift so they wouldn’t have to worry about bomb sirens and not being able to get to the office because of bombings and closed roads.

The prologue immerses us in the action immediately as main character and female sleuth Evelyne Redfern comes across a recently murdered coworker. Instead of screaming and running out of the room, she goes to examine the body, at which point the light is turned off, the door closed and locked.

Now that Kelly knows she has our undivided attention, she goes back eleven days to show us how Evelyne got this job with the government in wartime. She had been working in an extremely unfulfilling job at an ordnance factory, filling missiles. We learn that Evelyne was called “The Parisian Orphan” because although both her parents were very much alive, they were in a fierce, much publicized court battle for custody of Evelyne. Her mother raised her in France, and her father, a notorious playboy, adventurer, and author, wanted her in England. The battle ended when young Evelyne found her mother, dead, in their apartment. Investigators said it was suicide, and even though Evie protested that her mother would not have done that, no one listened. So when the same thing happens when Evie discovers the dead secretary, she is determined to do some investigating on her own.

Luckily, she is able to find the light switch, and by yelling and screaming, she attracts the attention of David Poole, a minister’s aide, who unlocks the door and goes to get the military police. He leaves her guarding the body, which time she uses to search for evidence utilizing methods she has read about in her murder mystery novels.

Evie, as we come to learn, is very quick-witted and has the ability to ask just the right questions to get people talking about things they hadn’t really meant to share. This talent becomes invaluable when she and David Poole end up collaborating on trying to discover whether the murder has anything to do with the recent leak of top secret information to the Germans.

One of Kelly’s strengths is creating a cast of characters who are unique enough that we remember their names and who they are. And in this novel, we see how masterfully she lays out the clues, creating some that are actually red herrings in reverse. And in addition to the staff at Whitehall, we learn about Evie’s best friend Moira, and her Aunt Amelia. While her father doesn’t make an actual appearance, there’s enough dodgy information about him that we can expect they will cross paths in at least one of the upcoming mysteries.

When Evie and David, who through almost the whole novel remain “Mr. Poole” and “Miss Redfern,” finally solve the mystery, largely thanks to Evie’s literary skills and knowledge, there’s no letdown but rather a feeling of satisfaction at how well it all worked out. So many threads and so many links that don’t make sense until we see it all laid out. I personally can’t wait to read about their next adventure.

This review was first posted on Bookreporter.com.