The Spitfire Murders

Homefront Sleuths #3

by Anna Elliott, Charles Veley

Spies, secrets, and a splash of tea—another mission for the Homefront Sleuths!

England, 1941: When a factory security guard dies under suspicious circumstances and a Spitfire test flight ends in disaster, the quiet village of Crofter’s Green is abuzz with questions. With the local police stretched thin by the war effort, it’s up to the *Homefront Sleuths* to uncover the truth.

Leading the charge is Evie Harris, village tea shop owner and amateur detective, who bravely goes undercover at the aircraft factory—despite a cryptic warning from a shadowy German spy. Watching out for her

🔎 Harry Jenkins – A retired detective with a sharp eye for trouble.
🌿 Alice Greenleaf – A no-nonsense herbalist with a knack for noticing what others miss.
📚 Blake Collins – A clever schoolteacher who sees patterns no one else does.
💡 Dorothy Baker – A quick-witted young mother whose instincts never fail.

As they untangle a web of sabotage and secrets, another worker turns up dead. Can they uncover the saboteur before disaster strikes again?

The Spitfire Murders is a heartwarming historical cozy mystery, brimming with intrigue, camaraderie, and wartime resilience.

Perfect for fans of Jacqueline Winspear, Rhys Bowen, and Carola Dunn! Scroll up and one-click now!

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Audiobook, Cozy Mystery, Historical, Fiction, Crime

286 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 5, 2025

About the author

Anna Elliott is an author of historical fiction and fantasy. She enjoys stories about strong women, and loves exploring the multitude of ways women can find their unique strengths. She was delighted to lend a hand with the Sherlock & Lucy series, and thrilled to continue a new spin-off series featuring Becky and Flynn. Her first series, the Twilight of Avalon trilogy, is a retelling of the Trystan & Isolde legend. She wrote her second series, The Pride & Prejudice Chronicles , chiefly to satisfy her own curiosity about what might have happened to Elizabeth Bennet, Mr. Darcy, and all the other wonderful cast of characters after the official end of Jane Austen’s classic work.

WEBSITE: http://sherlockandlucy.com
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/sherlockand...
FACEBOOK READER GROUP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/77782...
AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Anna-El...

Anna lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and five children.

Reviews

[Marjorie89]

So interesting yet so dull all at once

[Kathy]

Vivid descriptions of life during wartime....bombing, escaping, protecting children.

Kindle Unlimited

[Erik Deckers]

I've been enjoying the Homefront Series immensely. It's given me a lot of insights into what home life was like during World War II. It's a nice historic look at what the people "back home" were experiencing. Anyone who's interested in learning more about WWII should read this series.

[Chantelle Marshall]

3🌟 (Audible Plus Catalog). This series has very (overly?) complicated storyline + sometimes too many characters. We're finally getting to the "Moriarty" of Crofter's Green.

[C.G.Koens]

Murder, Kidnapping, and Intrigue...oh my!

Once again, another good addition to the series from Elliott and Veley, complete with character growth and historically-based plots. And I will add, again, that it is very reminiscent of a more grown up version of Nancy Drew, with a cohort of friends swooping in at the last minute to save the day. There were a couple of typos or plot details that were wonky (like, one minute the two hostages are bound and gagged, and the next minute they're no longer gagged), but overall, it was an enjoyable, easy read, and I liked it enough that I plan to continue reading the series.

[Alice]

Just love this whole town and all the fun characters in it! The mystery itself is so so but I like that it’s war time and how they solve them is always realistic

[Theresa]

Excellent series. Like a mix of Thursday Murder Club and Maisie Dobbs. The character story lines are interesting and I can’t wait to see how it all unfolds.

[Racheal Surridge]

brilliant characters

I love this series, brilliant characters, excellent storylines can’t wait for a certain thing to happen. Hope it’s in the next book!

[Amy Ingalls]

I love these characters and I can't wait for a certain someone to visit Crofter's Green.

[Liv]

The merry* band is back together: Evie, Alice, Dorothy, Harry and Blake but also Nigel 😻

The cast:

🔸Evie Harris: A quick witted young, widowed, tea&scones shop owner with a secret and an exciting past.

🔸Alice Greenleaf: An intelligent and determined village herbalist with a secret past.

🔸Dotty Baker: An ingenious and adaptable young mother. Has a son, Timmy, and a wounded in war husband, Tom.

🔹Blake Collins: A war-wounded, clever schoolteacher who has a ferret (Sherlock)

🔹Harry Jenkins: A sharp-eyed retired London detective, who has a cute but serious dog. (a miniature schnauzer named Lizzie Borden, who is also part of the homefront sleuths club)

🔹Nigel Jenkins: The detective inspector, also the nephew of Harry.

🔹🔸▪️And of course only the best dog ever: Bonzo the Pomeranian❗❕❗ (originally he was introduced as belonging to Diana Lovecraft- but with Diana relocated for other missions, Bonzo became an integral part of the group)

🐕🐩🐕‍🦺The members of The "Four-Legged" Sleuths club:

🐾🐾🐾

🔸Bonzo - energetic and jovial 🐕
🔸Lizzie - a bit more serious 🐕‍🦺
▪️Sherlock the ferret 🐿️
▪️Henrietta the cat 🐈

🐾🐾🐾

*** In this instance "Merry" means: brave, gallant, or elite.

[John Lee]

And straight on to the third in this cozy villagey wartime series. After my first reading session which seemed to cover so much -catching up from the previous book and the start of the new investigation plus Evie's problem now revealed, I was surprised to see that I was still at only 25%.

Although several of the characters have already had bad experiences in the war , it hadn't really hit the village. In this book it hits on several fronts.

Harry , the retired London detective inspector, is asked by the local Superintendent, to look into the death of another retired policeman who was working as a security guard at a nearby factory. The factory is involved in top secret war work which causes problems.
Also the Luftwaffe have started bombing the area.

Dorothy gets a telegram about her husband and stumbles across something she enjoys that could help her family's finances.

The 'reinforcements' are brought into action again and there is perhaps more going on in this story than the previous ones, which I won't give away here.

Suffice it to say, its a happy ending again and maybe a new character about to join the village.

As an aside, Nigel's police vehicle is a Ford Prefect or Perfect as my father used to call them. He worked in a Ford garage before and after the war.

I plan a short break from Crofter's Green now but I will certainly be back.

10th June 2026

[Roo]

great books, I'm off to find the next

[Sami]

Have become mildly addicted to these audiobooks. Fear I will do nothing else for the next month. Send thoughts.

[Kerry Donahue]

2.5 stars. Not as good as the first two books

[Maureen]

3,75⭐️

Je sens la romance pointer son nez 👀

C’est une chouette saga de cosy mystery à écouter en audio mais j’aurais vraiment préféré que chaque point de vue aie un narrateur différent pour y voir plus clair.

[Samantha Laughlin]

While this book is well written snd the concept is generally one I gravitate toward, the storyline was a bit “ho-hum” for me. Might just have a lot to do with the more explicit books I read directly before it…

[Clare Crawshaw]

Third one I’ve read in this series, it’s my least favourite one, I love the characters but the plot was a bit slow. I do love all the history of the war though , looking forward to book 4

[Mathilde]

I really enjoy the series, it’s very interesting to learn more about life in Britain during WWII, mention for the historical note at the end of every book

[Fiona Martin]

I liked the link to the previous book, but I do feel this one was a bit longer than it needed to be

[Ashlee]

I loved this one. The characters are coming into their own and the storyline was awesome. I literally did my own googling on the spitfire planes and loved the historical accuracy. Great book in the series. My favorite so far.

[Phil Dunlop]

Why not 5 stars?

Ok, this is a very good story, why not 5 stars? Well, I was a pilot, was an F-111 pilot, Vietnam, F-111 had 2 engines, and that's how you would describe it in a story. The Spitfire was a single engine fighter and that's how you would and should describe it in a story. But, early in this story, and more than once, the author describes the aircraft sounds as "engines" and that just makes me cringe especially because the Spitfire sounded so uniquely wonderful. So, 4 stars is the best I can do. Yeah, its a nit, but it's a really big one.

[Lynda Pilley]

I wanted to give this book more than 3 stars, but there were just too many inconsistencies. the little dog who stars in several other book changed from Pomeranian to a terrier, snowdrops in June? The 2 kidnapped ex soldiers had gags put in their mouths by their captors and yet were able to whisper to each other! The story itself was more a mild wartime spy thriller than a cosy mystery. However, I will continue with the series as I do like the main characters.

[Lisa]

I appreciate the history notes at the end of each book in this series. I love how the author roots these books in a particular place that still exists. This is the book where Evie transitions from primarily being a widow to being open to love. That’s nice. This book is also less a mystery than a spy drama and I like those less. But I still enjoy the way the characters are all developing.

[Ruth]

The whole series of these is terrible. I only read them because they're free and I still feel ripped off. I understand they're not meant to be historically accurate but when a British man was supposedly injured fighting the Germans in France in 1941 all suspension of disbelief evaporated. Also there are terrible continuity errors throughout.

[Anna Butler-Whittaker]

I enjoyed this one more from the series. Not my favourite of its genre, but not bad either. I particularly like the historical notes at the end of each book, they are really interesting and show that the series is super well researched.

[Bill Cross]

"The Spitfire Murders" is the third in the Homefront Sleuths series written by the father-daughter team of Charles Veley and Anna Elliot. While the authors are Yanks, they have definite affection for the UK as this series and the other two they’re responsible for (Sherlock and Lucy plus, Becky and Flynn) are also set in England. The Homefront Sleuths are a collection of six friends who live in the small village of Crofter’s Green who all have a penchant for solving mysteries. The time of these novels is in the early days of World War II, prior to the United States’ involvement when the war’s outcome was definitely in doubt.

While a dead body turns up rather quickly in the story (in fact, it happens in the prologue before we even get to the first chapter), the identity of the killer takes a back seat to what is more of a wartime spy thriller. It seems that vital parts of the famed British fighter plane, the Spitfire, are being manufactured clandestinely in Ashford, a town close by Crofter’s Green. (That factory is where the dead body turns up.)

The Homefront Sleuths are drawn into the intrigue when one of them, retired Scotland Yard investigator, Harry Jenkins, is called on by the police superintendent to investigate the murder. Harry, accompanied by his nephew, active duty copper, Nigel Brewster, starts digging; and before long, the investigation uncovers what could be an extremely deadly plot to sabotage the factory, and by extension, Britain’s entire war effort.

As in all of the Veley-Elliot novels, the chapters are short and told from the viewpoint of one of the main protagonists. Sometimes the action stays with a particular character for several chapters, but often each chapter changes focus (and location) to allow the investigation to proceed on multiple fronts simultaneously. It’s a good device as it keeps the action moving. Frequently, chapters will end with one of the protagonists facing danger, only to have the narrative shift scenes, creating multiple cliffhangers throughout the novel.

While I did enjoy this adventure, I have to admit I enjoyed it less than the previous one. That’s because, as mentioned above, it’s not much of a mystery. It’s more of a spy thriller. Finding out whodunnit becomes a bit of an afterthought as the sabotage plot and thwarting it become the novel’s main focus. And, to be honest, the bad guys turn out to be not very formidable. But the real problem is that there are six Homefront Sleuths, and giving each one enough to do in the story leaves little room for anything else. In fact, there are more sleuths than suspects in "The Spitfire Murders." In addition to the six main sleuths, there is also the war-injured husband of one of the members who has had a major part to play in this and the previous novel in the series.

If you’ve followed the first two installments in the series ("The Blackout Murders" and "The Spectre of Hawthorne Manor"), the third installment gives you a bit more on the mysterious background of sleuth/teashop owner, Evie Harris, as well as advancing the budding romance between two of the major characters. Blake, a sleuth with autism, is again the most underused of the main characters but has the potential to develop into the series’ most interesting personality. Hopefully, he’ll move more to center stage in future installments.

While I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the previous novel (and not as much as I have enjoyed the entire Sherlock and Lucy series), it still made for a fast read with plenty of action. I will be around for the fourth installment, which at the rate this team is turning out fiction, should be any day now!

[Meg]

Evie is planning to slip out of town after she learns that someone from her past is hunting her. She receives a note that Seigfried, a German from her old French Resistance days, has tracked her down. Worried that she will put her friends in danger, Evie wants to leave but they will not hear of it. Now everyone on the sleuthing team, including Nigel, Harry, Blake, Alice, Dorothy, vow to not only keep her safe but to track down Seigfried themselves. But first they have to conduct an undercover operation to find out who is trying to sabotage parts being built for the spitfire planes. Evie gets a job at the factory and suspects that Martha, who is supposed to be flagging any defective parts is letting them slip through instead. Martha is working with Mr. Brixton, who is supposedly with the Ministry of Supplies but who is instead a German spy. Meanwhile, Alice learns that a group is trying to develop a deadly drug called anthrax that could kill millions of people if it falls into the hands of the enemy. Working with the little dog, Bonzo, Alice trains him to sniff out the missing vial of anthrax. When Martha is arrested, Mr. Brixton tries to have her killed before she can talk. When that fails, he kidnaps Dorothy's husband and son along with Blake and says that they will be released if Evie delivers Martha to them. Knowing that it is a trap and that both Evie and Martha will be killed, Harry and Nigel set up their own trap and with the help of Tom, Blake and Bonzo they kill the bad guys and recover the missing anthrax. Mr. Brixton kills Martha but is shot down before he can kill Evie. No idea if Brixton was Seigfried or not but I suspect that storyline will continue. In other developments, Evie and Nigel are growing fonder of one another, Tom is learning to walk on his prostatic leg and is becoming friends with Blake and Dorothy is starting a story hour for kids with the help of Violet who she met when Tom was in the hospital.

[Sam Agnew]

"Secrets, like bombs, had a habit of destroying everything around them when they finally detonated."

In The Spitfire Murders, our team of homefront sleuths—tea shop owner Evie Harris, pragmatic herbalist Alice Greenleaf, quick-witted young mother Dorothy Baker, retired detective Harry Jenkins, and clever schoolteacher Blake Collins—dives into the high-stakes world of wartime secrecy surrounding Spitfire manufacturing. When a security guard dies under mysterious circumstances at a covert factory in nearby Ashford and a test flight ends in a crash, the investigators refuse to accept these events as mere coincidence.

Meanwhile, Evie finds her past catching up with her when a threatening note references her former French Resistance work. Attempting a quiet escape from Crofter’s Green, she is caught at her front door by Alice. Foiled, Evie agrees to gather the rest of the group—Alice, Dorothy, Harry, and Blake—to share her secret history all at once. When an undercover position opens at the Ashford factory, Evie—drawing on her specialized clandestine training—steps up as the natural choice.


Authors Elliott and Veley masterfully weave constant German bombing threats into the central mystery, grounding the narrative in wartime reality. The portrayal of female factory workers highlights both solidarity and petty jealousies as women navigate newfound independence—a daunting shift even without a war raging around them.

The Spitfire Murders delivers compelling storytelling, rich historical details, and characters who grow deeper with every installment. Having developed a theory in the previous book about Viola—the amnesiac patient Dorothy befriended while visiting her husband Tom in a London hospital—I hoped for answers in this third entry, but the mystery remains open for book four. I am eager to dive into the next installment, The Judas Monk, to follow the team's next investigation.

[Dan Rees]

It was my privilege to receive an Advance Reader Copy (ARC) of this third book in the new Homefront Sleuths series. What follows is my candid review.
We were introduced to Evie (Evelyn) Harris in the first book of the series, when she took over her Grandmother's shuttered tearoom, and learned her backstory of having been an operative in the French Resistance before having to leave France for Britain. There, she lived in London and worked as an air raid worker until she was injured in a building collapse and moved to the small rural village where her late grandmother had the tearoom. In the first two books, she collaborates with a varied group of friends to stymie some gangs profiteering from war shortages, with possible German encouragement. As this book starts, her past in France seems to be catching up with her, in the form of a mocking letter from "Siegfried", the mastermind behind a lot of the plots she encountered in occupied France. At the same time, a murder at a secret factory of Spitfire parts in a nearby town indicates the possibility of intended sabotage of the British war effort. As the book develops, we are confronted with the question of whether the two things are interrelated or coincidental. Various members of the informal "Homefront Sleuths" group of her friends play various roles, according to their individual strengths, in uncovering the plot, even at their own personal risk.
I highly recommend this book and the series to which it belongs both to fans of group investigations and fans of war fiction. Almost needless to say, the backdrop to the investigation includes bombing and strafing runs by German aircraft.

[Jill E.]

another good book in the series

Continue to enjoy the characters in these books. We learn more about them with each installment. Each one of them learns more about him or herself, realizing that each brings some special talent or gift to the table when attempting to solve the mysteries in these World War II intrigues.

The “homefront sleuths” continue to learn how to work together to defeat the evil plans of Nazi spies and British traitors, and solve related murders.

I was not aware that biological warfare was around as early as World War II, so this book continued to teach me about that time period.

This group of friends works hard to be supportive of each other, not just for the war effort, but also because of their concern over those in need in this small English town.

The pacing is good. While it sometimes seems that clues and answers come more quickly than might occur in other mysteries, having multiple “boots on the ground“ helps to turn up a lot of information as each person relies on their individual strength to improve the success of the entire group.

The book is extremely satisfying, and during a time when the world right now is often disheartening and perhaps even frightening, it is encouraging to see people work together for common purpose. I recommend this book.