The Secret Detective Agency: Book 1
Publication Date: March 27, 2025
Meet Miss Jane Treen – the coffee-drinking cat lover dressed head to toe in tweed, who just happens to be a secret super sleuth!
London, 1941: Miss Jane Treen is at her desk, strong black coffee in hand and fluffy ginger cat by her side, when her top-secret government work is interrupted by an urgent call to Devon. A woman has been found dead in a lake in a place where she shouldn’t have been. Jane needs to gather the clues and find the killer before someone else from the agency gets hurt…
Shy and handsome code-breaker Arthur Cilento is bewildered by the arrival of the efficient Miss Treen and her cat Marmaduke. She bursts into his life unexpectedly, forcing him out of his comfort zone. The reluctant colleagues huddle near the warmth of a crackling fire in Arthur’s country home, working to piece together the murderous puzzle at hand.
In the sleepy Devon village, someone is hiding something: but is it the busybody vicar and his sister, the dutiful housekeeper and her secretive son, the stern librarian, or someone else altogether? And who were the people with the woman in the lake on the day she died?
Murder mysteries set in 1940s London are a great backdrop to a story, and we get that with author Helena Dixon’s The Secret Detective Agency.
Miss Treen, the primary female protagonist, is very no-nonsense. She is stoic and keeps her feelings to herself. To me, she is the epitome of the proper British woman. She’s strong emotionally, brave, and willing to take difficult cases and try to solve them.
Arthur, the male protagonist, is gentle and sensitive. Despite his poor constitution, he presses on and gets to the bottom of things during a case.
These two work well together as characters and in solving crimes. They complete each other. Will they be a couple? There are hints, but who knows?
The mystery is entertaining, with interesting possible culprits, making the story a fun and inviting read.
Ms. Dixon has an extensive backlist, and they all look excellent. I like that she had excerpts of her work at the end of her book so the reader can peruse them at their leisure and decide if they would like another book.
The Secret Detective Agency is the first book in the series by the same name, and they are sure to be a hit for historical cozy mystery readers!
Helena Dixon is the author of the best-selling Miss Underhay murder mystery series and
lives in Devon. Married to the same man for over thirty-five years she has three daughters, cactus called Spike, and a crazy cockapoo. She is allergic to adhesives, apples, tinsel and
housework. She was winner of The Romance Prize in 2007 and Love Story of the Year 2010
as Nell Dixon.
