Book Review: A Peculiar Combination by Ashley Weaver (Electra McDonnell #1)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Story characters and historical story

Cons: No combination of cons for me

The Bottom Line:

Pressed into service

But job gets complicated

Hooked on this debut

A Winning Combination

The first time I heard about the Electra McDonnell series, I knew I had to give it a try.  The premise was unique, and it just sounded like a lot of fun.  I picked up A Peculiar Combination, the first in the series, with high expectations, and I’m happy to say I enjoyed it.

The book takes us to London the summer of 1940.  Electra, Ellie to her friends, and her uncle are locksmiths.  Since business has always been uneven, they’ve supplemented their income with the occasional robbery.

However, the night the book opens, things go wrong and the two are caught.  They are given a choice, go to jail or join Major Ramsey with a mission to help the war effort.  While Ellie takes an instant dislike to Ramsey, she doesn’t see where they have a choice.  Besides, the mission is easy enough – break into a safe and switch out some papers with fakes.  However, when Ellie and Ramsey arrive on the scene, they are met with some unexpected complications.  Can Ellie still help?

Since this is the first book in the series, the book must set up the premise.  I knew as much as I teased above before I picked it up.  I was impressed with how quickly the book moved through this without feeling like it was rushed.  That’s a testament to the writing.

As this part of the book was unfolding, we were also getting to know the characters, especially Ellie and Ramsey, who are the leads.  They leap off the page and only get sharper as the book progresses.  The same is true with the supporting characters.

There were several times I saw a twist coming a few pages before it happened, but it didn’t matter because, I was along for the ride.  Naturally, this isn’t a traditional mystery, and I loved it for that.  There was plenty here to keep me interested, and the twists only made me more invested in the story.

The book also makes great use of the historical setting.  I immediately felt like I was living in London in 1940.  While real history doesn’t show up on the pages, this story also couldn’t have taken place any other time.

I expected the book to have a strong romance sub-plot when I picked it up, and I was right.  As I expected, we get a will they/won’t they plotline.  What I wasn’t expecting was a love triangle.  While I’m hoping it doesn’t go on too long, I’m intrigued by it now and very curious to see where the romance goes.  I haven’t even decided who I am rooting for yet.

The book does a good job of sprinkling in Ellie’s backstory over the course of the book.  Some of this is going to come into play in future books.  I’m looking forward to seeing where it leads.

Now that I’ve met Ellie, I’m very anxious to visit her again.  A Peculiar Combination is a book historical mystery fans will be glad they picked up.