A Courage Undimmed

It’s late 1941 in Graves’s spellbinding third Olive Bright mystery (after 2021’s A Valiant Deceit), and headstrong, impulsive Olive of Pipley, Hertfordshire, is doing her bit helping out at a covert training center for saboteurs and assassins. Not even Olive’s family knows she’s been recruited by the enigmatic Col. Jamie Aldridge to secretly train homing pigeons for missions into occupied Europe. As a cover for Jamie’s ubiquitous presence, the two pretend to be in love. But as the war drags on, Olive comes to the unsettling realization that her pretend love for Jamie may be only too real. Meanwhile, Pipley’s newest resident, self-proclaimed medium Velda Dunbar, agrees to conduct a séance at the home of one of Olive’s friends. But the show has barely begun when Velda dies. Poisoned, the doctor says. An accident, or was someone at the séance keen to punish the fraudulent spiritualist? The murder investigation is secondary to fascinating historical detail, as Graves paints a gritty picture of war on the home front. This portrait of sacrifice, bravery, and the unbreakable power of a community during WWII should win Graves new fans. Agent: Rebecca Strauss, DeFiore & Co. (Feb.)