Undercover in the Occult
One thing I enjoy about the Jane Wunderly series is that you never know where she will land for each book. So far, we’ve watched her solve cases in Egypt, England (twice, including the novella), the Atlantic Ocean, and Turkey. Now, she is heading to an island off the coast of Scotland in Secrets of a Scottish Isle.
Jane is there undercover for the mysterious organization she and her fiancé, Redvers, work for. Her assignment is to infiltrate the occult group Golden Dawn. Many of them are on the Isle of Iona to perform a ceremony for the Spring Equinox. Specifically, she is to find out if the Golden Dawn leader, Robert Nightingale, would be the asset he claims he would be when he applied to work for Jane’s organization.
Jane is posing as someone who has recently converted to the group. But she’s just gone through the initiation when she finds the body of another female member in the middle of the moors. It isn’t clear whether she was murdered or not, and Jane feels the need to bring the victim justice. With only sporadic help from Redvers, who is trying to stay out of sight since Robert knows him, Jane must now balance the two investigations. Can she figure out what is really going on? Is Robert trustworthy?
While there are other characters who pop in and out of these books, Jane and Redvers are the only ones who are in every book. Fortunately, I’ve really come to care for them over the course of the series. They pulled me right into this story, and I couldn’t help but root for the two of them to figure things out. They are joined here by a good cast of suspects who kept me guessing as to what was really going on.
Sadly, the mystery could have been stronger. Jane spends lots of time pondering the events unfolding around her, which slows down the pace. Don’t get me wrong, there are interesting developments, but there could have been more of them. The ending, while logical, is a little abrupt.
However, the setting came wonderfully to life. I actually got to read this around the Spring Equinox, which is fun. While our weather in Southern California wasn’t nearly as cold as it was in Scottland in this book, every time I picked up the book, I wanted to crank up the heat. I could feel the cold that Jane was experiencing.
This book is set in 1927. William Butler Yeats is one of the characters. While I’m not super familiar with him or his work, I still found it fun recognizing his name when he first appeared. As to other historical events, I’ll leave it for you to discover when you read the author’s note after you’ve finished the book.
Fans of the series will be happy to catch up with Jane and Redvers in Secrets of a Scottish Isle. If you want to enjoy some historical travel, you’ll be happy you picked up this series.
Enjoy the rest of the Jane Wunderly Mysteries.
NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.
Thanks for sharing your review with the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.
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