Brighton Belle

After WWII, a woman settles in a seaside town—where her old intelligence skills come in surprisingly handy: “Great fun.”—James Runcie, author of the Grantchester mysteries
 
In post-World War II England, former Secret Service operative Mirabelle Bevan becomes embroiled in a new kind of intrigue . . .
 
1951: In the popular seaside town of Brighton, it’s time for Mirabelle Bevan to move beyond her tumultuous wartime years and start anew. Accepting a job at a debt collection agency seems a step toward a more tranquil life.
 
But as she follows up on a routine loan to Romana Laszlo, a pregnant Hungarian refugee who’s recently come off the train from London, Mirabelle’s instincts for spotting deception are stirred when the woman is reported dead, along with her unborn child.
 
After encountering a social-climbing doctor with a sudden influx of wealth and Romana’s sister, who seems far from bereaved and doesn’t sound Hungarian, Mirabelle decides to dig deeper into the suspicious circumstances surrounding the death. Aided by her feisty sidekick—a fellow office worker named Vesta Churchill (“no relation to Winston,” as she explains)—Mirabelle unravels a web of evil that stretches from the Brighton beachfront to the darkest corners of Europe. Putting her own life at risk, she must navigate a lethal labyrinth of lies and danger to expose the truth.
 
“[An] entertaining series launch . . . Mirabelle is indeed a lady, even when she’s climbing over back fences and knocking back whiskey.” — Publishers Weekly