Historical Mystery Review: Ashley Weaver’s LOCKED IN PURSUIT (Electra McDonnell #4)

Written by Miss Bates

Locked_In_PursuitIf you like your mysteries with a strong dose of romantic interest, then Weaver’s latest in her Electra McDonnell series will please you mightily. It certainly did this reader.

The usual cast returned, to my satisfaction: Electra “Ellie” and her Uncle Mick, petty criminals until recruited by British Intelligence and the aristocratic Major Ramsay, the usual villainous suspects, in this case German spies and collaborators, and a few new intelligence heroes to add to the Major’s team. We also once again meet Felix, master forgerer, and Ellie’s best friend and possibly something MOAR, except foiled because we finally FINALLY have an acknowledgement of feelings on Ellie’s and the Major’s part. Things end up in an emotionally thornier place than ever, but I’ll take it. For the deets, the publisher’s blurb will suffice:

Safecracker Ellie McDonnell hasn’t seen Major Ramsey—her handsome but aloof handler in the British government—since their tumultuous mission together three months before, but when she hears about a suspicious robbery in London she feels compelled to contact him. Together they discover that a rash of burglaries leads back to a hotbed of spies in the neutral city Lisbon, Portugal, and an unknown object brought to London by a mysterious courier.

As the thieves become more desperate and their crimes escalate, it becomes imperative that Ellie and Ramsey must beat them at their own game. Fighting shadowy assailants, enemy agents, and the mutual attraction they’ve agreed not to acknowledge, Ellie and Ramsey work together to learn if it truly takes a thief to catch a thief.  

The “thieves” never quite come clear: collaborators? Germans spies? working in London? I was never quite sure, but the mysterious “object”, a map leading to a Portugese tungsten mine, a material much-needed for the Nazi war effort, would give the enemy an advantage Major Ramsay, hero and patriot that he is, wants to stop. He can’t do it without Ellie and he, once again, has to make his vulnerability for her the necessary sacrifice to his mission. I like how Weaver is bringing these characters along: Ramsay ever more caught between his feelings, to be squelched, and his duty, Ellie’s too darn good at this espionage stuff to give her up. As for Ellie, I really like how Weaver shows how a sense of mission and purpose eclipse her previous petty criminal “career”. Under Ramsay and in service, Ellie can’t return to who she was and I like it that it looks like her Uncle Mick can’t either. 

As with every McDonnell volume, Weaver’s Ellie is caught in too many narrative threads: Ellie’s pursuit for the truth about her mother’s death (of influenza but meant to hang for her husband’s murder) and her father’s, the victim’s, mysterious past; Ellie’s attraction for Ramsay, her friendship with Felix and the something more between them. To add, Weaver added several “jobs” to Ellie’s repertory that created conflicts with Ramsay. These hang contrived to move the relationship in a particular direction. On the other hand, these conflicted loyaltiess lead to a doozie of a cliffhanger that has only made me anticipate the next book more than I usually do. (Frankly, this series volume is worth reading  for Ellie’s new-found relationship with Ramsay’s sister, Noelle, and a certain dress Noelle lends her to wear to a mission. The dress, the suspense, Ramsay’s stalwart presence and steely silver-grey eyes, the moonlight and the passionate kisses: great stuff.) Another suspenseful, emotionally satisfying addition to a wonderful little series.

Ashley Weaver’s Locked In Pursuit is published by Minotaur Books and released on May 14th. I received an e-galley from Minotaur Books, via Netgalley, in exchange for this review. This did not impede the open expression of my AI-free opinion.

14 thoughts on “Historical Mystery Review: Ashley Weaver’s LOCKED IN PURSUIT (Electra McDonnell #4)”

  1. “Under Ramsay and in service, Ellie can’t return to who she was and I like it that it looks like her Uncle Mick can’t either. “

    As Team Ramsey as I am, I am glad that Felix has not given up doing his bit, and I really hope the author stops using him simply as the “bird in the hand” for Ellie.

    I am keeping all fingers crossed for the next book; the feelings in this book are ::chef’s kiss:: and know it’s going to be a long year waiting for the next one.

    Also: laughing literally out loud at “AI-free opinion”; this fellow reviewer salutes you.

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    2. LOL, my friend! “Under Ramsay” is what we want to see. I like Felix and I’m glad he was released from Ellie. Many threads were wound up and others opened and I’m so anticipating the next book!! (I HATE AI: like who would want something to do their thinking for them. I just don’t understand! *rant over*)

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  2. I just got this book from the library a few days ago, so I heroically resisted reading your review until I finished it, in case of spoilers. I loved it, and like you, can’t wait for the next one. I loved the new characters that were introduced, and the return of the regulars. The London setting is such a strength of the series, and I was happy to return there. But apparently Ellie and the Major will be in Lisbon in the next book, as she took them elsewhere in the last book.

    As much as I love Ramsay, if this were real life, I would tell Ellie she’s better off with Felix in the long run. They are two of a kind, and it’s hard to imagine an HEA with the very upright Major, and situationally ethical Ellie, who will always have larceny in her soul, even if she gives up thieving. Look how easily she slipped back into those “side jobs”!

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    1. “Larceny in her soul”…I guffawed! They’re such fun characters! Didn’t you love the whole Ellie in The Dress climbing ladders with Ramsay right behind her scene? And Ellie with Ramsay’s sister, priceless. Yes! R. and Ell in Lisbon: travel, maybe some forced proximity. This could be verra verra good. You’re right about Felix, of course, except for the explosive attraction with the Major. It’s has so much DRAMA. I was glad, either way, that there seems to be some finality there. I’m not a fan of the romance triangle. So, now, we sits and drum our fingers till book 5, hang in there!

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      1. I usually dislike triangles too. I think Ashley Weaver likes to create tension with her protagonists. Her Amory Ames series, which I’ve read a couple of, is a married couple solving mysteries, but they have a troubled relationship, and in the first book it’s touch-and-go whether they’ll stay together.

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  3. And P.S. Google’s AI is apparently still telling people to put glue in their pizza, so I don’t think they’re ready to take over the world yet. I’m hoping AI will just crash and burn like cryptocurrency, before I have to bother learning about it.

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    1. Now wouldn’t that be great, AI crashing and burning. As a teacher, I hates it. It’s only going to make us all stupider. But what really drives me batty are all the pathetic teachers going we have to learn to teach the students to use it as a tool. No, we don’t. *rant over*

      As for the glue-pizza: if you’re going to take your advice from AI instead of a reputable Italian cookbook, Elmer’s it’ll have to be.

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