A Deceptive Devotion by Iona Wishaw - 20BOS26-12

It’s been six years since I visited with Lane Winslow and her neighbors in King’s Cove, British Columbia, where she settled after WWII, hoping to find a peaceful place to rebuild her life. She has been partially successful: she is living in shining white, old-fashioned house nestled on a dappled, sunlit green lawn, which she is extremely fond of; moreover, she has made numerous new friends and, in the previous book, became engaged to Frederick Darling, a former bomber pilot, who served in the RAF, now a police inspector in his native Canada.

Constable Ames, Darling’s second in command, is temporarily in Vancouver, studying to become a sergeant.

However, trouble follows Lane, as it must do for all amateur sleuths, and in this book, although she should be planning her wedding, she finds herself hosting a mysterious White Russian widow, searching for her husband, when one of her neighbors killed while hunting in the nearby forest. There is also an former espionage contact of Lane’s, a Russian named Aptekar, whose countrymen have turned on him. Why does the British Consulate in Vancouver think Aptekar is coming to find Lane? Can he reach safety in Canada before his old comrades kill him?

Lane is concerned when someone from the British Consulate is sent by her perfidious former lover, now an Intelligence Director of some kind in Britain, to question her about Aptekar, whom she had believed to be a hard-nosed Soviet agent. She wonders whether Aptekar was betrayed and, if so, whether by Brits or Russians. She is also frustrated because - due to her war work - she cannot discuss her worries with her fiancé:

With a groan she realized that she was now in a position of having to keep more secrets from Darling. She would not be able to tell him about this meeting, or anything that was said in it. She had thought the whole business of the Official Secrets Act – to which she was bound for the next fifth years – which had created the great cavern of doubt between her and Darling right from the beginning (and nearly got her charged with murder) was finally all behind them. She put the car into gear angrily. Bloody British Intelligence!

Whenever I have been in St. James Park, which is between Buckingham Palace and the BritishMI5 andMI16Houses, I have thought about its reputation as a prime "hiding in plain sight" rendezvous spot during 20th century espionage (alas, no one has ever approached me for a secret mission). Lane’s ex meets up with a Russian spy (who turns up in a trench coat but that’s probably a good way to blend in) in Russell Square instead and the only thing I like about him is that he’s annoyed at the cliché of rendezvousing with a spy on a park bench!

This sixth book is as intricately plotted as the earlier entries in the series but less satisfying. Lane, usually brilliant, is slow to realize where the danger is coming from. The flashbacks from present day 1947 to 1945 and to 1895 and 1918 Russia were confusing, and having a Russian plot in the middle of bucolic King’s Cove seems very improbable. I also felt Inspector Darling was ignoring odd behavior in his own department and speaking far too colloquially. At one point he says, “Goody!” And while Ames greatly admires his boss and absorbs insults good-naturedly, he is not stupid and Darling should not be so condescending. Also, I did not remember all the details of Lane’s neighbors, so a bit more reminder would have been helpful to keep them straight. I do enjoy this series and see the author recently published the thirteenth in the series – it will take me a while to catch up!

Book One in the series is A Killer in King’s Cove (2016).

Title: A Deceptive Devotion, #6
Author: Iona Whishaw
Publication: Touchwood Editions, trade paperback, 2019

Setting: Canada, Russia, Britain
Genre: Historical Mystery/series
Source: Advanced Reading Copy provided by the publisher

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• 20 Books of Summer 2026

• Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge 2026

• Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2026