Safecracker-turned-spy Electra McDonnell heads to World War II-era Lisbon in the fifth and final installment of Ashley Weaver's smart historical mystery series One Final Turn.
After being dismissed (and rejected romantically) by her former handler, Major Ramsey, Ellie has returned to assisting her locksmith uncle in London. But then she's tapped for an intelligence assignment involving three escaped British POWs, one of whom might be her missing cousin, Toby. Traveling with the charming Captain Archie Blandings, Ellie must navigate an unfamiliar city and the difficulty of working with Major Ramsey again.
Weaver (Locked in Pursuit; A Peculiar Combination; A Deception at Thornecrest) plunges her characters into the murky realities of wartime life in a supposedly neutral country. Though Ellie is charmed by Lisbon's architecture and cuisine, she can't let the city's history or its enticing nightlife distract her from her mission. Every discovery related to the POWs and the valuable intelligence they carry puts Ellie, Ramsey, and Blandings in greater danger. Meanwhile, despite Ellie's attempts to treat the major professionally, she can't ignore the emotions his presence stirs up. Weaver tests her heroine's mettle with a series of increasingly complex challenges, compounded by Ellie's worry for her cousin and the strain of being far from home. A nail-biting confrontation at an ancient fortress throws a surprising new light on the case--and even more surprises wait for Ellie when she returns to London.
With charming characters and fascinating wartime details, One Final Turn is a crackerjack conclusion to an engaging series. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams