Murder Most British by Helena Dixon ~ a Review

by Donna Huber

London, 1941. Miss Jane Treen is faced with another mysterious disappearance within her Secret Detective Agency’s team. Tabitha Moore, a government typist, was on her way to meet Jane with vital information about some secret codes. But she didn’t turn up for work and has seemingly vanished without trace. Then Jane and her colleague, handsome codebreaker Arthur Cilento, receive a call: a body has been found, and it matches Tabitha’s description…

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

November 2025; Bookouture; 978-1836181392
audio, ebook, print (260 pages); cozy mystery

I started this series because another WWII cozy mystery series I was reading ended. Dixon's new series, The Secret Detective Agency, is shaping up to be a great replacement. 

Murder Most British is the third book in the series. I have read book 1, The Secret Detective Agency, and book 1, The Seaside Murders, but I don't believe you have to have read the previous books to enjoy this one.

I actually liked this one a bit more than the previous two. I think it is because the two main characters, Hane Treen and Arthur Cilento, have stopped thinking about how much the other annoys them. I'm not sure how I feel about the possibility of a budding romance between. I mean, can't a woman and a man work together and not fall in love? Perhaps not in the 1930s and 1940s. 

I don't find the main cast characters (Jane, Arthur, and Benson) to be as quirky as you might expect for characters in a cozy mystery to be, but in this book, there were still plenty of flamboyant characters. The murder of Tabitha requires them to go undercover at one of the broadcasting studios. The performers are just what you would think of comedians, singers, and bandleaders of the period. I might have even giggled at one particular scene.

If you are ready to transition to Christmas books, then you can get started with this one. It is set just before Christmas, and there are only mentions of Christmas - mostly about how the war is affecting the season. So if you aren't a Christmas book reader, you might not even notice the festive season setting.

Murder Most British is a fun read. I only started suspecting who the traitor was towards the very end. If you have a long holiday weekend coming up, it would be a great book to put on your reading list.

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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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