A Valiant Deceit

Graves’s enjoyable sequel to 2021’s Olive Bright, Pigeoneer begins in 1941 in the village of Pipley, England, where pigeoneer and amateur sleuth Olive supports the war effort by training her homing pigeons for a clandestine government organization stationed at a nearby manor. Her latest assignment, training the pigeons to carry messages for Resistance fighters in Europe, is interrupted when a mild-mannered acquaintance, Lt. Jeremy Beckett, is found dead. The police determine his death was an accident, but things don’t add up—Beckett was carrying a coded message in his pocket and a map of Germany clutched in one hand. Was he a spy? Determined to find the truth, Olive solicits the help of her superior officer, the handsome but prickly Capt. Jameson “Jamie” Aldridge. They must overcome their fraught relationship long enough to devise a trap for the real traitor. Olive and Jamie’s budding romance is promising, though Olive’s brash and sometimes immature behavior can wear thin. Graves’s focus on a fascinating bit of WWII history makes this stand out among lighter wartime mysteries. Agent: Rebecca Strauss, DeFiore and Co. (Feb.)