As a book reviewer, I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher or author to facilitate this review. I received no other compensation, and all opinions are always 100% my own.
Evelyne Redfern, a young woman working in a munitions factory in London during WW II, is out for the night on the town when she runs into a friend of her father’s, who asks her to visit him next day in his office. She leaves that visit with a new job in the typing pool, in the underground War Cabinet rooms of Winston Churchill, and a vague mission to search out a possible mole.
On her first day, she meets a disagreeable woman named Jean who seems to be looking for a hold over her. Evelyne immediately disarms her. by sharing her family’s disreputable reputation with the group as a whole. Evelyne was branded the “Parisian Orphan” by the press as a child, when her French mother was divorced by her English father, a well-known member of the nobility. A few days later, when Evelyne is sent for a routine task, she finds Jean’s murdered body in the room. As she turns to shout for help, someone slams the door shut and bolts it from the outside.
The police are useless. Evelyne begins asking questions, never forgetting that she is also keeping her eyes out for a spy. This brings her again and again into contact with David Poole, a handsome minister’s aide who seems to think women have no brains! The interactions between the two of them grow warmer as they begin to mutually respect each other. By dint of some fast thinking and risk taking, they are soon making progress, they think. But each of their leads seems to not be quite enough. Not to mention that it is never the safest thing to track a murderer…
A Traitor in Whitehall is a really enjoyable book. A delightful read!