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Lane Winslow #0.5
A Season for Spies
In A Season for Spies, the page-turning prequel to the mystery series Publishers Weekly calls “highly entertaining,” Lane Winslow embarks on her first spy mission in wartime England, while her grandparents’ quiet Christmas in Scotland is interrupted by a mysterious guest.
In wartime England, Lane Winslow has been pulled out of her studies at Oxford and spends her days in London translating for the war office. Things are grim, and it looks like no one is going home for Christmas—that is, not until Lane's commanding officer orders her to drop everything to do just that. He’s loathe to send a woman, but a very important agent needs an escort into the country from an isolated cove in Scotland in just a few days, and Lane’s family connections in the north are the perfect cover for this mission of utmost secrecy.
On rails, wheels, and snowshoes, Lane makes her way up the country through the thick snows, navigating inquiries from old friends, distrustful townspeople, and dangerous interference on her race against time. Resourceful, but still untested, Lane will have to use all of her wits to make it out of her mission unscathed.
Meanwhile, Lane’s grandparents are delighted by the news that she’ll be up for the holidays, but their cheery preparations are interrupted by clues suggesting a mysterious visitor has dropped right down into the forest outside their cottage. They might have a British airman wandering around in danger—or someone much more sinister lurking in the woods. Cozy and action-packed, this prequel to the beloved Lane Winslow mysteries shows readers just where Lane got her mettle.
In wartime England, Lane Winslow has been pulled out of her studies at Oxford and spends her days in London translating for the war office. Things are grim, and it looks like no one is going home for Christmas—that is, not until Lane's commanding officer orders her to drop everything to do just that. He’s loathe to send a woman, but a very important agent needs an escort into the country from an isolated cove in Scotland in just a few days, and Lane’s family connections in the north are the perfect cover for this mission of utmost secrecy.
On rails, wheels, and snowshoes, Lane makes her way up the country through the thick snows, navigating inquiries from old friends, distrustful townspeople, and dangerous interference on her race against time. Resourceful, but still untested, Lane will have to use all of her wits to make it out of her mission unscathed.
Meanwhile, Lane’s grandparents are delighted by the news that she’ll be up for the holidays, but their cheery preparations are interrupted by clues suggesting a mysterious visitor has dropped right down into the forest outside their cottage. They might have a British airman wandering around in danger—or someone much more sinister lurking in the woods. Cozy and action-packed, this prequel to the beloved Lane Winslow mysteries shows readers just where Lane got her mettle.
192 pages, Paperback
Published October 28, 2025
48 people are currently reading
275 people want to read
About the author
Iona Whishaw
15 books460 followersIona Whishaw has been a youth worker, social worker, teacher and an award winning High School Principal, who continued with her writing throughout her working life. Receiving her Masters in Creative writing from UBC, Iona has published short fiction, poetry, poetry translation and one children's book, Henry and the Cow Problem. The Lane Winslow mystery series is her first foray into adult fiction.
Iona was born in Kimberley BC, but grew up in a number of different places, including a small community on Kootenay Lake, as well as Mexico and Central America, and the US because of her father's geological work. She took a degree in history and education from Antioch College, and subsequent degrees in Writing at UBC and pedagogy at Simon Fraser University. Her own writing output took a brief back seat during her teaching career, but she shared her passion for writing by nurturing a love of writing in the students in English, Creative Writing, and Spanish classes. During the course of her career as a Principal in Vancouver she was awarded the Woman of Distinction in Education by the YWCA in 2010 and a Canada's Outstanding Principals award in 2012.
Her hobbies have included dance, painting, reading, and gardening. She currently is a vocalist for a small Balkan dance band in Vancouver, and is patiently waiting for her next opportunity to engage in her current pash, long distance, cross country rambling in England.
She is married, has one son and two grandsons, and lives in Vancouver with her artist husband, Terry Miller.
Iona was born in Kimberley BC, but grew up in a number of different places, including a small community on Kootenay Lake, as well as Mexico and Central America, and the US because of her father's geological work. She took a degree in history and education from Antioch College, and subsequent degrees in Writing at UBC and pedagogy at Simon Fraser University. Her own writing output took a brief back seat during her teaching career, but she shared her passion for writing by nurturing a love of writing in the students in English, Creative Writing, and Spanish classes. During the course of her career as a Principal in Vancouver she was awarded the Woman of Distinction in Education by the YWCA in 2010 and a Canada's Outstanding Principals award in 2012.
Her hobbies have included dance, painting, reading, and gardening. She currently is a vocalist for a small Balkan dance band in Vancouver, and is patiently waiting for her next opportunity to engage in her current pash, long distance, cross country rambling in England.
She is married, has one son and two grandsons, and lives in Vancouver with her artist husband, Terry Miller.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews
November 28, 2025
4 stars for a short book(180 pages) in the Lane Winslow series. I have read the previous 12 books in the series, but this would work fine as a stand alone, since it is actually a prequel to the series, listed as 0 in the series. This book takes place in Britain, with Lane pulled out of her secretarial/translator duties for a special mission, because she speaks German. She is sent to Scotland to meet a double agent, who has been ostensibly been spying for Germany, but is really a double agent for Britain. Lane is told to tell everyone that she is going to Scotland to visit her Grandparents over the Xmas holidays. She is to meet the spy, take him to her grandparents, and then on to London.
But there are complications, with a second spy landing at the same time. How Lane and her grandparents solve this unexpected development makes for a satisfying read. It would be a great start to the series for anyone interested. The subsequent books make periodic references to Lane's spy past experiences.
Both my wife and I enjoy this series. She also rates it 4 stars.
Thank You Touchwood Editions for sending me this eARC through Edelweiss.
Pub. date Nov 11, 2025
But there are complications, with a second spy landing at the same time. How Lane and her grandparents solve this unexpected development makes for a satisfying read. It would be a great start to the series for anyone interested. The subsequent books make periodic references to Lane's spy past experiences.
Both my wife and I enjoy this series. She also rates it 4 stars.
Thank You Touchwood Editions for sending me this eARC through Edelweiss.
Pub. date Nov 11, 2025
January 2, 2026
This is a lovely book to read for those who enjoy thrillers with a hint of mystery thrown in. The Scottish countryside to the east of Edinburgh is the setting for this World War II story. Lane Winslow, just out of university, is tasked with snowshoeing thirty miles to the coast to meet a German double-agent who has a list of German spies in the UK.
Lane will stay at her grandparents house and take the agent with her. However, Lane isn't aware that the Germans know about this meeting and have sent an assassin and a British traitor to kill the agent. The British intelligence services and their attitude of the time towards female spies is accurately portrayed as is the fawning attitude of society towards the aristocracy, even when the aristocratic family has Nazi sympathies.
Lane will stay at her grandparents house and take the agent with her. However, Lane isn't aware that the Germans know about this meeting and have sent an assassin and a British traitor to kill the agent. The British intelligence services and their attitude of the time towards female spies is accurately portrayed as is the fawning attitude of society towards the aristocracy, even when the aristocratic family has Nazi sympathies.
April 26, 2026
Love this series. This was a reread for me. Outstanding story and narration. Highly recommend.
November 9, 2025
A great prequel. I got the special edition from Indigo, which had a really interesting interview with Iona Whishaw at the end.
May 4, 2026
4.5 delightful
Read
July 15, 2025A high stakes quick read, although the ending seems a little rushed. Despite the fact that it is a prequal, there is little explanation on who some characters are. Since I have an advance copy, I am hoping that the typo at the very start of the story will be fixed, as stating that the story takes place in August 1948 when it in fact is set at Christmas 1940, during WWII, was initially very confusing.
January 19, 2026
This novella is a lovely prequel to a great series. Set at Christmas 1940 in Scotland primarily, we meet Lane Winslow, a young woman working as a translator in the British war effort. She is plunged into a courier mission with little information and no training, yet manages to more than successfully accomplish her mission.
For anyone looking for a one day read with some history and a bit of excitement, this is a great stand-alone read and for someone looking for a wonderful historic fiction series, this is a grand introduction to the main character of the Lane Winslow series. I highly recommend both!
For anyone looking for a one day read with some history and a bit of excitement, this is a great stand-alone read and for someone looking for a wonderful historic fiction series, this is a grand introduction to the main character of the Lane Winslow series. I highly recommend both!
December 22, 2025
This was a delightful little snack of a book to add to the Lane Winslow series. I spotted it on our library's 7 day express loan shelf for bestsellers and took it home and read it in a day.
Although it clocked in at 179 pages, I would call it more of a novella compared to the others. Unlike the rest of the series, I'd also classify this as more of a cozy mystery (although probably not technically a cozy). It goes back in time to the early day of WWII with Lane as a 20 year old being recruited into her first spy mission for the British government - which also happens to coincide with Christmas. That, and the fact that her grandparents are newly settled in Scotland, all feed into the cover story for her mission. This is a fast moving adventure where an unexpected snow storm, some unexpected encounters, and lots of people filled with holiday spirit help and hinder Lane along the way.
The book has a different vibe and feel to the rest of the series which I quite enjoyed and with Christmas running all through the background, it was a perfect read for this time of year!
Although it clocked in at 179 pages, I would call it more of a novella compared to the others. Unlike the rest of the series, I'd also classify this as more of a cozy mystery (although probably not technically a cozy). It goes back in time to the early day of WWII with Lane as a 20 year old being recruited into her first spy mission for the British government - which also happens to coincide with Christmas. That, and the fact that her grandparents are newly settled in Scotland, all feed into the cover story for her mission. This is a fast moving adventure where an unexpected snow storm, some unexpected encounters, and lots of people filled with holiday spirit help and hinder Lane along the way.
The book has a different vibe and feel to the rest of the series which I quite enjoyed and with Christmas running all through the background, it was a perfect read for this time of year!
December 23, 2025
This was a great prequel to an enjoyable series.
December 27, 2025
A cozy Christmas prequel to a beloved series!
February 8, 2026
An interesting prequel — perhaps we’ll meet some if the characters in later books.
November 3, 2025
Merry Christmas to all!
November 28, 2025
The Lane Winslow historical mystery series has been recommended to me any number of times. That’s not really a surprise as it strongly resembles the Maisie Dobbs series which I have enjoyed very much, but has come to an end with last year’s The Comfort of Ghosts, set at the end of Maisie’s war in 1945.
Lane Winslow is at the beginning of her war, the same war, in 1940 when this prequel begins. Which goes a long way towards explaining why I picked this up, and especially why I picked it up now. Lane Winslow’s series, beginning with A Killer in King’s Cove and with a 13th entry, A False and Fatal Claim, coming next April, is set post-World War II. That series stars the person that Lane’s wartime experiences made her.
This prequel is the story about the making of that character, about the young woman who in 1939 was voluntold to report to Wormwood Scrubs (an outstation of the better-known – at least postwar – Bletchley Park) for her language skills, about to be caught up in the secret world of the intelligence services, set on her first mission by a reluctant supervisor who has been equally voluntold that he will send a young woman for this job and he will send Lane Winslow and his own misgivings and outright prejudices about women doing what he believes to be a man’s job be damned. Or he will.
No, we don’t know exactly who gave him HIS orders, not even at the end, but I do really wonder and hope we find out over the course of the series – which of course I now intend to read. After all, I need a comfort read to take Maisie Dobbs’ place, and Lane Winslow is primed to fill that place very nicely indeed.
Escape Rating B: I know, I know, I haven’t talked much about the actual book in hand so far. I’m about to remedy that. OTOH, it was terrific that this holiday-set prequel came out this fall, because it was the perfect book both to get me into the Lane Winslow series AND it was the perfect book to kick off my #2025HoHoHoRat reviews. (Fair warning, it’s looking like this year’s holiday reading is going to include a LOT of dead (human) bodies. The dead turkey bodies are kind of a given for the holiday!)
I like to start a series from the beginning – or go back and pick up the beginning on the occasions I do get in in the middle, and A Season of Spies took care of that nicely.
Very much OTOH, however, the story is a bit predictable, because Lane’s story isn’t all that different – different wars notwithstanding – from Maisie Dobbs‘ or Bess Crawford’s. It also has hints of Foyle’s War, particularly Christopher Foyle’s relationship with the Special Operations Executive at the end of his war, and may even extend to something rather like the Sparks & Bainbridge series, where their war was rather like Lane’s and their postwar adventures are set in the aftermath.
While the whole clandestine spy operation on the home front that Lane finds herself in the midst of, along with the discovery that one of her old if not dear friends is a traitor, carries shades of The Jössing Affair by J.L. Oakley.
So I could generally see where this story was going. At the same time, the addition of Lane’s rather intrepid grandparents was a very nice touch, especially considering just how much that scenario seemed like the Keystone Kops at the beginning and turned out to show exactly where Lane got her moxie and her mettle by the end.
In other, and fewer words, A Season For Spies was a terrific intro to Lane Winslow and her series that this reader is thankful for this Thanksgiving Weekend. I’m looking forward to getting caught up with Lane and her postwar adventures, beginning with A Killer in King’s Cove, the next time I’m looking for a murderously good comfort read.
Originally published at Reading Reality
Lane Winslow is at the beginning of her war, the same war, in 1940 when this prequel begins. Which goes a long way towards explaining why I picked this up, and especially why I picked it up now. Lane Winslow’s series, beginning with A Killer in King’s Cove and with a 13th entry, A False and Fatal Claim, coming next April, is set post-World War II. That series stars the person that Lane’s wartime experiences made her.
This prequel is the story about the making of that character, about the young woman who in 1939 was voluntold to report to Wormwood Scrubs (an outstation of the better-known – at least postwar – Bletchley Park) for her language skills, about to be caught up in the secret world of the intelligence services, set on her first mission by a reluctant supervisor who has been equally voluntold that he will send a young woman for this job and he will send Lane Winslow and his own misgivings and outright prejudices about women doing what he believes to be a man’s job be damned. Or he will.
No, we don’t know exactly who gave him HIS orders, not even at the end, but I do really wonder and hope we find out over the course of the series – which of course I now intend to read. After all, I need a comfort read to take Maisie Dobbs’ place, and Lane Winslow is primed to fill that place very nicely indeed.
Escape Rating B: I know, I know, I haven’t talked much about the actual book in hand so far. I’m about to remedy that. OTOH, it was terrific that this holiday-set prequel came out this fall, because it was the perfect book both to get me into the Lane Winslow series AND it was the perfect book to kick off my #2025HoHoHoRat reviews. (Fair warning, it’s looking like this year’s holiday reading is going to include a LOT of dead (human) bodies. The dead turkey bodies are kind of a given for the holiday!)
I like to start a series from the beginning – or go back and pick up the beginning on the occasions I do get in in the middle, and A Season of Spies took care of that nicely.
Very much OTOH, however, the story is a bit predictable, because Lane’s story isn’t all that different – different wars notwithstanding – from Maisie Dobbs‘ or Bess Crawford’s. It also has hints of Foyle’s War, particularly Christopher Foyle’s relationship with the Special Operations Executive at the end of his war, and may even extend to something rather like the Sparks & Bainbridge series, where their war was rather like Lane’s and their postwar adventures are set in the aftermath.
While the whole clandestine spy operation on the home front that Lane finds herself in the midst of, along with the discovery that one of her old if not dear friends is a traitor, carries shades of The Jössing Affair by J.L. Oakley.
So I could generally see where this story was going. At the same time, the addition of Lane’s rather intrepid grandparents was a very nice touch, especially considering just how much that scenario seemed like the Keystone Kops at the beginning and turned out to show exactly where Lane got her moxie and her mettle by the end.
In other, and fewer words, A Season For Spies was a terrific intro to Lane Winslow and her series that this reader is thankful for this Thanksgiving Weekend. I’m looking forward to getting caught up with Lane and her postwar adventures, beginning with A Killer in King’s Cove, the next time I’m looking for a murderously good comfort read.
Originally published at Reading Reality
March 20, 2026
🎧 Listened in audio
📢 Narrated by Rill Askey
⏱ Duration: 4 hours 57 minutes
🏷️ Publisher: Touchwood Editions (October 28, 2025)
I came into this book with a genuinely good reason to be excited about. A WWII era historical cozy with a sharp female lead being underestimated by every man in a uniform is my catnip at the moment. And with everything that I've been reading lately in the nonfiction space about how systematically women were sidelined from the very wars they were quietly winning, Lane Winslow's story felt like it was made for this particular reading season. The setup is genuinely compelling. Here's a woman who's handed a dangerous mission not because anyone believes in her, but because she's convenience. And of course, Lane quietly proves them wrong, and that scratched a very specific feminist itch for me.
However, at around 60%, my attention wandered and never fully came back. The mission beats are solid on paper, yet they started to blend together in snow, trains and coded conversations, without quite enough emotional anchor to keep me invested. Audiobooks are an interesting litmus test for pacing. When you zone out during a drive, and realize you've missed twenty minutes, that's the book telling you something. For me, this one had that moment. Rill Askey's narration was pleasant, and well suited to the period tone, but even a good narrator can only do so much when your attention has quietly slipped off.
I want to be fair here. This is absolutely a series I can see working for a lot of readers. If you are already a Lane Winslow fan, this prequel will feel like a gift, with a cozy origin story wrapped in wartime snow and Scottish atmosphere. For me, as an entry point, it just didn't quite hold on tight enough.
Would you recommend it?
For me, A Season for Spies lands in the “glad I sampled, but not compelled to continue” category. If you already love Lane Winslow or you’re chasing a soft-focus WWII spy story with cozy Christmas notes, this is worth trying, especially if you love Maisie Dobbs, Phryne Fisher, or Louise Penny's atmospheric style. Start from Book 1 of the series. This prequel is a lovely companion for existing fans.
📢 Narrated by Rill Askey
⏱ Duration: 4 hours 57 minutes
🏷️ Publisher: Touchwood Editions (October 28, 2025)
I came into this book with a genuinely good reason to be excited about. A WWII era historical cozy with a sharp female lead being underestimated by every man in a uniform is my catnip at the moment. And with everything that I've been reading lately in the nonfiction space about how systematically women were sidelined from the very wars they were quietly winning, Lane Winslow's story felt like it was made for this particular reading season. The setup is genuinely compelling. Here's a woman who's handed a dangerous mission not because anyone believes in her, but because she's convenience. And of course, Lane quietly proves them wrong, and that scratched a very specific feminist itch for me.
However, at around 60%, my attention wandered and never fully came back. The mission beats are solid on paper, yet they started to blend together in snow, trains and coded conversations, without quite enough emotional anchor to keep me invested. Audiobooks are an interesting litmus test for pacing. When you zone out during a drive, and realize you've missed twenty minutes, that's the book telling you something. For me, this one had that moment. Rill Askey's narration was pleasant, and well suited to the period tone, but even a good narrator can only do so much when your attention has quietly slipped off.
I want to be fair here. This is absolutely a series I can see working for a lot of readers. If you are already a Lane Winslow fan, this prequel will feel like a gift, with a cozy origin story wrapped in wartime snow and Scottish atmosphere. For me, as an entry point, it just didn't quite hold on tight enough.
Would you recommend it?
For me, A Season for Spies lands in the “glad I sampled, but not compelled to continue” category. If you already love Lane Winslow or you’re chasing a soft-focus WWII spy story with cozy Christmas notes, this is worth trying, especially if you love Maisie Dobbs, Phryne Fisher, or Louise Penny's atmospheric style. Start from Book 1 of the series. This prequel is a lovely companion for existing fans.
March 11, 2026
(3.75 rounded to 4.0).
Lane Winslow is one of the thousands of young women who have taken jobs to support the war effort. Lane is fluent in several languages including French and German. Just before Christmas, one of the leading commanding officers orders her to leave everything to go to her grandparents’ country home in Scotland which happens to be near an isolated cove. Lane is outfitted for winter weather including snowshoes. The plan is that she would get off the train and use her snowshoes to walk to her grandparents’ home making a stop at the cove to meet a German officer who is defecting to the British and who has vital information on upcoming German operations. Lane is to find the officer who will parachute into Scotland. The problem may be that parachuting Germans are in a traffic jam and are arriving at such locations in mass. Most are attempting to sabotage British efforts or to meet with British citizens who are betraying their own country to Germany. Lane’s first task will be to ascertain that she has the right German and then to lead him to her grandparents’ house on the excuse of celebrating Christmas until an officer from a nearby RAF base will take responsibility for him.
A severe blizzard is expected to hit the area and to remain until after Christmas. Therefore it will take at least 2-3 days to cover the distance to her grandparents—all along running interference so that no one will guess that the officer is a German. This prompts her to invent a story about an engagement so that she can remain close to him and keep people’s attention on her instead. Lane’s grandparents are delighted that Lane will spend Christmas with them but they are having their own confrontation with one of those “other” Germans who has landed on their land. Thanks to a well placed frying pan, they now have him under control but their RAF officer who is supposed to collect him can’t make it over until after the storm dies down. So we now have a Christmas celebration in the middle of a blizzard and at least two Germans to manage until after Christmas.
This cozy mystery is a prequel to the Lane Winslow mystery series that introduces her and shows how she becomes one of those spies dealing with some of the lighter stories of WWII. The characters are all likable and well developed. The setting of Britain in WWII gives an interesting premise and Lane is a delightful young woman with a talent for landing herself in situations that are technically “above her pay grade.” I plan to look for others in this warm, humorous series of mysteries and intrigue. Recommend to readers of historical fiction, cozy mysteries, spies and espionage, Scotland, British literature and a potential for romance.
Lane Winslow is one of the thousands of young women who have taken jobs to support the war effort. Lane is fluent in several languages including French and German. Just before Christmas, one of the leading commanding officers orders her to leave everything to go to her grandparents’ country home in Scotland which happens to be near an isolated cove. Lane is outfitted for winter weather including snowshoes. The plan is that she would get off the train and use her snowshoes to walk to her grandparents’ home making a stop at the cove to meet a German officer who is defecting to the British and who has vital information on upcoming German operations. Lane is to find the officer who will parachute into Scotland. The problem may be that parachuting Germans are in a traffic jam and are arriving at such locations in mass. Most are attempting to sabotage British efforts or to meet with British citizens who are betraying their own country to Germany. Lane’s first task will be to ascertain that she has the right German and then to lead him to her grandparents’ house on the excuse of celebrating Christmas until an officer from a nearby RAF base will take responsibility for him.
A severe blizzard is expected to hit the area and to remain until after Christmas. Therefore it will take at least 2-3 days to cover the distance to her grandparents—all along running interference so that no one will guess that the officer is a German. This prompts her to invent a story about an engagement so that she can remain close to him and keep people’s attention on her instead. Lane’s grandparents are delighted that Lane will spend Christmas with them but they are having their own confrontation with one of those “other” Germans who has landed on their land. Thanks to a well placed frying pan, they now have him under control but their RAF officer who is supposed to collect him can’t make it over until after the storm dies down. So we now have a Christmas celebration in the middle of a blizzard and at least two Germans to manage until after Christmas.
This cozy mystery is a prequel to the Lane Winslow mystery series that introduces her and shows how she becomes one of those spies dealing with some of the lighter stories of WWII. The characters are all likable and well developed. The setting of Britain in WWII gives an interesting premise and Lane is a delightful young woman with a talent for landing herself in situations that are technically “above her pay grade.” I plan to look for others in this warm, humorous series of mysteries and intrigue. Recommend to readers of historical fiction, cozy mysteries, spies and espionage, Scotland, British literature and a potential for romance.
November 26, 2025
"A Season For Spies" is the prequal to the "Lane Winslow Mystery" series by Iona Whishaw.
If you haven't already been reading the wonderful Lane Winslow series, this is a perfect introduction to how she became an agent for the war effort during WWII. Readers have been given flashback to her time during the war years throughout the series, but learning how it happened and how she got through her first assignment gives wonderful insight to her character, intelligence and inner strength.
For about a year, Lane Winslow has been working as a translator for the war office in London. Now, days before Christmas 1940, she is called upon to travel to an isolated cove on the far shores of Scotland to escort an important agent into the country. As her grandparents live not far from there she is to use a short visit with them as part of her reason for travel. But before she can see them, she must get herself to the meeting point with little more than a map, snowshoes, a small amount of money/ration cards and a weapon. Travelling by train, wheels and snowshoes, it is a long and dangerous trek as she encounters suspicious characters and cold temperatures. Meanwhile, her grandparents are also dealing with an uninvited visitor.
As always, Ms. Whishaw has woven a suspenseful and inspiring tale of intrigue and the strength of a determined young woman!
If you haven't already been reading the wonderful Lane Winslow series, this is a perfect introduction to how she became an agent for the war effort during WWII. Readers have been given flashback to her time during the war years throughout the series, but learning how it happened and how she got through her first assignment gives wonderful insight to her character, intelligence and inner strength.
For about a year, Lane Winslow has been working as a translator for the war office in London. Now, days before Christmas 1940, she is called upon to travel to an isolated cove on the far shores of Scotland to escort an important agent into the country. As her grandparents live not far from there she is to use a short visit with them as part of her reason for travel. But before she can see them, she must get herself to the meeting point with little more than a map, snowshoes, a small amount of money/ration cards and a weapon. Travelling by train, wheels and snowshoes, it is a long and dangerous trek as she encounters suspicious characters and cold temperatures. Meanwhile, her grandparents are also dealing with an uninvited visitor.
As always, Ms. Whishaw has woven a suspenseful and inspiring tale of intrigue and the strength of a determined young woman!
May 8, 2026
A Season for Spies is a fun and light prequel to the Lane Winslow mystery series, and it delivers exactly what a cozy mystery should — with a touch of spy thriller woven in that gives it a little more energy than the typical entry in the genre. The writing is quick and clean, moving briskly between two parallel storylines — Lane navigating her wartime spy mission through the Scottish snow, and her grandparents back at the cottage puzzling over a mysterious visitor in the woods. The dual narrative structure works well, keeping the pace lively without either thread overstaying its welcome.
The characters strike a pleasing balance — charming and accessible without being mere archetypes, and carrying just enough depth to be interesting without weighing the story down. It is a difficult balance to strike, and Whishaw manages it well.
The content is clean with no offensive language and any violence remains non-graphic, making this a comfortable read for a wide audience. The book works well as a standalone, though fans of the main Lane Winslow series will likely find it a rewarding addition. And for those unfamiliar, a good place to start.
Highly recommended for fans of cozy mysteries, particularly those who enjoy a wartime historical setting with a hint of espionage.
Ready to post, or any final tweaks?
The characters strike a pleasing balance — charming and accessible without being mere archetypes, and carrying just enough depth to be interesting without weighing the story down. It is a difficult balance to strike, and Whishaw manages it well.
The content is clean with no offensive language and any violence remains non-graphic, making this a comfortable read for a wide audience. The book works well as a standalone, though fans of the main Lane Winslow series will likely find it a rewarding addition. And for those unfamiliar, a good place to start.
Highly recommended for fans of cozy mysteries, particularly those who enjoy a wartime historical setting with a hint of espionage.
Ready to post, or any final tweaks?
April 9, 2026
Whishaw delivers a prequel that understands origin stories' true gift: not explanation, but the watching of mettle being forged. Lane Winslow, pulled from Oxford studies to translate in grim wartime London, proves compellingly untested when ordered home for Christmas cover that becomes mission of utmost secrecy. What distinguishes this installment is the dual narrative tension; Lane navigating snow and suspicion northward while grandparents confront mysterious forest visitor, cozy and action-packed existing in productive friction. The isolated Scottish cove, resourceful but unproven protagonist, race against time through thick snows on rails, wheels, and snowshoes classic elements refreshed through specificity of family connections as cover. At 192 pages, this is concentrated introduction showing where beloved character got her steel, Christmas setting deepening rather than softening the spy craft. For series devotees and newcomers alike, this offers the thrill of watching potential become capability. A crisp, festive, dangerous delight.
October 21, 2025
Just how did Lane Winslow become a spy anyway? This is a prequel to the series (12 books and counting) featuring our intrepid sleuth, who moves after the war to a small British Columbia community to seek a quiet life, and instead finds herself solving crimes. But her expertise came from her previous existence in wartime England, and this short novel explains how she got started. Lane has an office job until she is called upon, under the pretext of spending Christmas with her grandparents in Scotland, to meet up with a German double agent. There's murder and mayhem afoot and Lane rises to the occasion splendidly, paving the way for a lifetime career of intrigue that continues long after the war ends. The author was inspired by her own mother, who worked as a spy during the Second World War. This book is a lovely little introduction to Lane (and a perfect stocking stuffer). Thanks to the publisher for an Advance Reading Copy, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
January 5, 2026
Well-written, seasonally atmospheric perfection. If you didn't think a WWII spy thriller could be cozy and comforting, think again, because Iona Whishaw has crafted exactly that.
Lane is in her early twenties, working in London as a translator for the war effort. When she's called on to partake in a secret mission along the borders of Scotland, she finds herself trekking through the snow-drenched countryside, on her way to pick up a German double agent, to meet up with her grandparents at their cottage.
It sounds thrilling, and it is - but it's honestly one of the coziest books I've ever read. The story alternates between Lane's journey and her grandparents in their cottage, and it's all so clever and lovely, with lots of descriptions of the snowy world and tea and cake in amongst the genuinely well plotted story.
I enjoyed it immensely - so much that I'm going to continue the series.
Lane is in her early twenties, working in London as a translator for the war effort. When she's called on to partake in a secret mission along the borders of Scotland, she finds herself trekking through the snow-drenched countryside, on her way to pick up a German double agent, to meet up with her grandparents at their cottage.
It sounds thrilling, and it is - but it's honestly one of the coziest books I've ever read. The story alternates between Lane's journey and her grandparents in their cottage, and it's all so clever and lovely, with lots of descriptions of the snowy world and tea and cake in amongst the genuinely well plotted story.
I enjoyed it immensely - so much that I'm going to continue the series.
December 24, 2025
WWII has broken out and Lane Winslow drops out of her university course to take a position translating for the SOE. When her superior asks her to travel north to Scotland to rendezvous with a double spy, she has the perfect cover. Her grandparents live near the remote area where she is to meet with the man. She notifies them that her and a friend will be joining them for Christmas.
It doesn't take long before Lane suspects there's a leak and someone, is one step ahead of her. The area where she has been sent is remote and with the winter weather, she has to work hard to make the scheduled meeting time. With everyone on the alert for newcomers and possible spies landing along the coast, everyone is on the alert looking for strangers.
Typical of the author's other books, it is a very enjoyable read.
It doesn't take long before Lane suspects there's a leak and someone, is one step ahead of her. The area where she has been sent is remote and with the winter weather, she has to work hard to make the scheduled meeting time. With everyone on the alert for newcomers and possible spies landing along the coast, everyone is on the alert looking for strangers.
Typical of the author's other books, it is a very enjoyable read.
January 5, 2026
I was so excited to hear we would be getting a prequel to the Lane Winslow series, especially given how elusive Lanes past is with the British war efforts (darn official secrets act). I decided to turn my copy of “A Season for Spies” into a little book advent calendar reading a couple pages each day leading up to the 25th which fits the story line so well given that it takes place in the days leading up to Christmas. This was both a delightful and annoying choice on my part as I just did not want to put this book down and would have most defiantly devoured the whole story in one day had I not had a self-imposed pages limit. It was rich and captivating and even when I thought all was good and calm, Iona surprises us with more twists and turns. While I’m not so sad to not be able to experience poor Alice’s biscuits, I know that would have been one memorable Christmas dinner to attend.
November 10, 2025
This was a nice short book to read heading into the Christmas season. In this prequel to the series, Lane Winslow is 20 years old and serving as a typist for the war effort. She is suddenly assigned to meet a German double agent because of her language skills. The job will be disguised as her and a friend meeting at her grandparents home for Christmas in the Scottish countryside. The situation becomes further complicated when another German spy lands near Lane's grandparent's home. We learn how the young Lane Winslow became further involved in the WWII effort as a spy and the Christmas setting was a perfect.
December 8, 2025
England is at war, and young Lane Winslow, doing her part in London is given a special assignment to escort an agent around Scotland, but to act perfectly natural , like she's just there to visit her grandparents. But things are never as they seem, and soon young Lane finds herself in an unexpected situation.
I loved this Lane Winslow backstory. I want to start the series over because I feel I just met some of the people who show up in Kings Cove. Just as exciting and thrilling as the rest of the series, although A Season for Spies has a much shorter page count. Perfect for reading by the fire at Christmas with a cup of tea and some cake.
I loved this Lane Winslow backstory. I want to start the series over because I feel I just met some of the people who show up in Kings Cove. Just as exciting and thrilling as the rest of the series, although A Season for Spies has a much shorter page count. Perfect for reading by the fire at Christmas with a cup of tea and some cake.
December 31, 2025
A prequel novella of Lane Winslow before on her first spy mission. The story itself was good. It was a delight to be back and to watch her stretching and learning and adapting. I did find her grandparents a little cliché “plucky” but I really enjoyed the story anyway. I enjoyed the references to the abilities of women in a positive light except for certain dumb-headed men. Alice and her cooking skills and progressive ownership of the kitchen was a delight and it was interesting to feel what it was like in England during the war. I probably would’ve given this book 4.5 stars if that were possible
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 20, 2025
This was a very exciting prequel to the series. Lane Winslow is twenty years old and working as a translator for the war effort, when she gets an assignment which sounded incredibly hard. She was to travel to Edinburgh and then travel by any method she could devise to Broughton where she would meet a German double agent coming in from a ship. She manages, but it's tough and she discovers a surprising twist. Meanwhile, her grandparents also have a German agent drop in on them.
A bit of humour and lots of pluck. Now I want to read more in this series.
A bit of humour and lots of pluck. Now I want to read more in this series.
May 5, 2026
This prequel novella is set at the very beginning of Lane's career as a spy. Lane is plucked out of her translator role and begrudgingly given an assignment to escort an important agent safely into a Scottish village from the coastline, near where Lane's refugee Grandparents live. Lane races against time, bad weather and suspicious townspeople to accomplish her first mission. Set at Christmas time, resourceful Lane must use all her wits to protect her grandparents and start her espionage work in WWII.
November 20, 2025
A banner year with two Lane Winslow stories! This one is a prequel of sorts, going back to Lane’s years during WWII. Here we read about her inaugural mission, where she of course goes above and beyond to thwart the Nazis and save the day, impressing some superiors and irritating others. I hope that there are more of these early stories to come, elaborating on the brief glimpses of Lane’s past and the shady characters that shaped her early years.
December 5, 2025
The Lane Winslow series has been a favorite since I discovered it last year, so I jumped at this the minute they published it. It’s a short story and covers things that have been mentioned in other books, but this goes into a lot more detail. Whishaw really has a gift for putting you in the places she describes, and even though I knew how it would all turn out, I couldn’t help but be invested enough to find this story difficult to put down.
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