The Secret Detective Agency by Helena Dixon ~ a Review

by Donna Huber

London, 1941: Miss Jane Treen is at her desk, strong black coffee in hand and fluffy ginger cat by her side, when her top-secret government work is interrupted by an urgent call to Devon. A woman has been found dead in a lake in a place where she shouldn’t have been. Jane needs to gather the clues and find the killer before someone else from the agency gets hurt…

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

March 2025; Bookouture; 978-1836181057
audio, ebook print (264 pages); cozy mystery

One of my WWII cozy mystery series is ending this summer and I enjoy Dixon's Miss Underhay series, so when I saw she had a new series coming out, I knew I had to try it. 

I was hoping for a story that I could lose myself in for a few hours but I had real trouble getting into this story. It was a little slow and there was some over-explanation. I didn't really like Jane Treen or Arthur Cilento. 

It also bothered me that the backmatter is 12% of the book. For a 264-page book that is about 30 pages - it seems a bit much to me. Since I got the ebook for free to review it was only mildly annoying but if I paid for it I might be more annoyed so I believe it is important for you to be aware of this.

The characters did grow on me some as the book progressed and I enjoyed the mystery. If you read my reviews very regularly, you know that I often start cozy mysteries in the middle of the series. I do that partly because I often dislike the first book in the series. My lukewarm reception of this series may be related to that. This series has potential and I look forward to the next book in the series.

Buy The Secret Detective Agency at Amazon

Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour.

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