“Poppy Redfern and the Fatal Flyers” is a solid follow-up to the first book, and continues the adventures of Poppy and her corgi, Bess. This book will appeal to readers of historical fiction, and those who like their mysteries on the cozy side.

I was so pleased to have the opportunity to read this one. I absolutely loved book one in this new historical cozy mystery series. Poppy is a wonderful, compelling character and I was eager to see what she would do next!

This was a great addition to the series and Poppy's story. It's late autumn, 1942, and the war is raging on in Europe. Here we see Poppy back in London and loving her new job as a scriptwriter at the London Crown Film Unit, which produces short films featuring British civilians who perform heroic acts in wartime in an effort to keep citizens inspired and encouraged during this incredibly difficult time. Poppy is thrilled to receive her first solo writing project: a film about the Air Transport Auxiliary, known as Attagirls (I love that!), a group of female civilians who have been trained as pilots to transport places all over Britain. She is so excited to meet these incredible women and hear their stories. When one especially accomplished pilot dies in what's being called an accident, Poppy and her American pilot boyfriend Griff are convinced it's foul play. When another Attagirl goes down, Poppy knows a murderer is at play here, and she must find the culprit before more lives are lost.

I love love love Poppy! What an awesome, bright, independent, completely real and admirable woman! I love her inner monologue with Ilona, the character in the books Poppy writes her in spare time. Ilona is brave where Poppy sometimes hesitates, so she gives her the courage she needs to speak (and act) her mind. I also really loved all the smart and varied women pilots in this story, at a time when women are breaking free from their traditional, limiting roles. Such a great piece of history, and I loved all the research Arlen clearly put into telling their story. The only one I'm NOT completely sure about here is Poppy's beau, Griff! He comes off as a little too cocky for my tastes! However, by the end we saw some vulnerability and a bit of progression in their relationship. We'll see...

So well written and researched, I cannot wait for more in this wonderful series!

Poppy Redfern and the Fatal Flyers is the second book in the “A Woman of World War II” mystery series by Tessa Arlen. Although it is the second in a series, it can be read as a standalone. It is 1942 and Poppy, employed by the London Crown Film Unit as a scriptwriter during the war, is sent to work on location at an airfield. The film she is working on is about the Air Transport Auxiliary pilots, or “Attagirls.” This amazing group of female pilots flew many different types of planes and transported them to airfields all over Britain during World War II. Sometimes these transports occurred during severe weather conditions. Poppy begins to work on the film and starts to get to know this intriguing group of talented and professional female pilots. When two “Attagirls” are killed in accidents during seemingly routine flights, Poppy and her boyfriend Griff begin to investigate.

This was such an interesting read, especially since I had never heard of the “Attagirls.” The history of these brave women is fascinating, and the author provides more facts about them in a historical note at the end of the book. The murder mystery is well done, with many twists, turns, and red herrings. The villain is not easy to figure out, so the reader is surprised at the end. The characters are compelling and well developed. Our heroine, Poppy, proves to be a witty and clever sleuth. Her relationship with her boyfriend Griff is complicated at times, but that just makes it more interesting. This is a great combination of World War II historical fiction and cozy mystery. I would recommend this book to fans of both genres.

The first book in the series is Poppy Redfern and the Midnight Murders.

I received a free copy of this book from Berkley Publishing via Netgalley for Historical Novels Review. My review is voluntary.

3.75 stars

The second entry in this World War II era British series was a great read. Former Air Warden Poppy Redfern has left her small town to work for the war information folks writing scripts. Their current assignment is to highlight ATA pilots -- women who ferry planes around in an effort to free up the RAF boys for more critical war-time duties.

Poppy is an interesting character. She is competent, level-headed and even-tempered. Her sort of boyfriend, American pilot Griff is also in the vicinity, working on an investigation that he can't talk about. He and Poppy are very different people. She is British, reserved, quiet and low-key. He is more American -- charming, outgoing, and confident.

Poppy's first day on the new film ends in tragedy when one of the female flyers crashes and dies. When a second pilot also is killed, she and Griff can't believe it's just accidental or pilot error. We watch Poppy getting to know the other pilots and asking questions to try and figure out the mystery.

The war-time setting is well-done and captivating. Thanks to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Brought to you by OBS Reviewer Daniele

Poppy Redfern and the Fatal Flyers, the second Woman of WWII mystery, is a well written, suspenseful yarn full of murder and wartime experiences. Everything about this book is related to the war, and it is a character driven puzzle worth figuring out.

It is autumn of 1942, and Poppy Redfern has left her village and position as air raid warden behind for London and a new job as a scriptwriter for the London Crown Film Unit. Her first assignment is to highlight six female civilian pilots responsible for ferrying any and every kind of aircraft to military airfields in need. When two of the pilots die in crashes, Poppy cannot help but believe that they were not both accidents and wonders if they are connected. With the help of her almost-boyfriend, American pilot Griff, the pair investigates to get to the truth.

I really like this Woman of World War II series and its characters. Poppy is clever, intelligent, and resourceful. Her job as a scriptwriter gives her an acceptable reason to investigate, and it does not feel forced or contrived when people open up to her. Griff is charming and likable with just the right amount of war related secrecy to be intriguing. I only wish there was not so much tip-toeing around their feelings. If Arlen’s goal is to create sexual tension, it is not coming across as such. I am a certified Pembroke Welsh Corgi fanatic so it is no surprise that I love Poppy’s canine sidekick Bess and appreciate how much she is featured in the story. Some of the other characters are a bit stereotypical but well executed. The Attagirl flyers are individual enough to provide lots of variety.

The story of these underrated women flyers is quite interesting, and I had not read much about them prior to reading this book. It feels quite timely to bring their stories, though fictional here, into focus. Arlan’s writing is descriptive without being too flowery and succeeds in setting a historically accurate tone without it being dry or too melodramatic. The backstories of each of the flyers are crucial to the story, and they all feel real to me, as does their camaraderie. It is difficult for me to feel sorry about the first victim Edwina’s death since I find her so unlikable and unsavory. However, readers do see another side of her with her neighbors’ reminiscence and gain some understanding of why she is the way she is. The second death is much harder to justify, and I felt the same shock and sadness as the flyers. There are several suspects for Poppy to interrogate and plenty of red herrings and clues for readers, and Poppy, to work through. The pace of the story is steady while providing enough suspense to propel the story along. I did not have it all figured out by the climactic reveal, and everything is satisfactorily and neatly tied up in the end.

Poppy Redfern and the Fatal Flyers is a rewarding read and can be read as part of the series or as a standalone mystery. I look forward to more of Poppy’s adventures, hopefully for a very long time to come. Recommended to all historical mystery fans.

Well written and interesting second installment in the Poppy Redfern series. Well plotted, and the perpetrator was a surprise! Looking forward to book three in the series.

Tessa Arlen drops us in World War II intrigue in Poppy Redfern and the Fatal Flyers. Poppy has come to film female fighter pilots known as Attagirls who ferry planes from the factory to the British air force airfields so the pilots can shoot down German planes over Britain in 1942. Two ladies crash and die during the filming but the authorities claim the pilots were at fault. Poppy and her American fighter pilot boyfriend suspect foul play. Read this excellent historical mystery.

Poppy Redfern and the Fatal Flyers is the second installment in author Tessa Arlen's A Woman of WWII Mystery series. This story picks up 4 weeks after the ending of Poppy Redfern and the Midnight Murders. As the story opens, Poppy has taken the job of assistant scriptwriter for the London Crown Film Unit. The Crown Film Unit produces short films featuring British civilians who perform acts of valor and heroism in wartime to keep up the morale of the country which has been at war for 3 long years.

Poppy is thrilled to receive her first solo script project: a fifteen-minute film about the Didcote Air Transport Auxiliary at White Waltham Airfield, known as Attagirls, a group of female civilians who have been trained to pilot planes from factories to military airfields all over Britain. The story is based on The Women's Section of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) which was established on January 1, 1940, to help ferry new, repaired, and damaged military aircraft between factories, assembly plants, transatlantic delivery points, maintenance units (MUs), scrap yards, and active service squadrons and airfields, but not to naval aircraft carriers.

Poppy could not be more excited to spend time with these amazing ladies, but she never expects to see one of the best pilots die in what is being labeled an accident. When another Attagirl meets a similar fate, Poppy and her American fighter-pilot boyfriend, Captain Griff O’Neal, believe foul play may be at work. I would love for Poppy to actually admit that Griff is her lover and boyfriend instead of playing coy everything someone asks her a question about their relationship. The mystery was well done. The author played her cards close this time, and there was so many possible suspects who could have done it.

Well played Tessa. Will there be another story in this series? I certainly hope so! I adore these historical mysteries. I like how Poppy has gotten stronger as a character as series goes forward. She’s brave, intelligent, and resourceful. She continues to use her Ilona persona to be more than her own personality has allowed her to be. This series is set against the backdrop of Britain at war, in a period when just over one million Americans were stationed in England, and a weakened police force struggled to cope with a soaring increase in crime, life on the home front is almost as uncertain as it is on the frontline.

**These women who served during WWII were real, remarkable and beyond brave. Some literally flew without weapons or radios. If a pilot landed behind enemy lines, she could be considered to be a spy and shot. The women literally flew every sort of plane imaginable to various bases across England and elsewhere. But, when the war was over, so was their flying careers. Esther McGowin Blake was the first woman in the United States Air Force. She enlisted on the first minute of the first hour of the first day regular U.S. Air Force duty was authorized for women on 8 July 1948. Joanna Mary Salter was England’s first fighter pilot. Kara Spears Hultgreen was a lieutenant and naval aviator in the United States Navy and the first female carrier-based fighter pilot in the U.S. Navy who later died when her plane crashed.

Poppy Redfern is sent out on her first solo assignment with the London Crown Film Unit to produce a short film about the ATA (Air Transport Auxiliary) and the heroic Attagirls who flew those missions. When one of the pilots dies in a training exercise while her crew is filming and then the next day another girl dies, Poppy and her American Fighter- Pilot boyfriend Griff realize there may be a killer loose and they set out to investigate. Set against the backdrop of World War II, Poppy Redfern feels like an old fashioned, black and white, who dunnit, and I couldn’t help but cast Katherine Hepburn and Jimmy Stewart in the leading roles.

On old fashioned mystery was just what I needed to transport me to a time when DNA, CSI, and high tech equipment didn’t exist. Poppy reminded me of a girl Friday, but one who could smell deceit as well as a good story. I really enjoyed the naive qualities Poppy portrayed, a tribute to the time she lived in as well as her own morals. Her dogged resilience in the face of the man’s world she lived in made me like her pluck. I also enjoyed Griff’s good ole American portrayal of WWII pilot and found their relationship to be sweet and fitting to a book of this style.

The historical elements of this novel while not too detailed did ring true. The author gives a nice salute to the Attagirls, young women whom I didn’t even know existed. This era of women doing the job’s that required doing during this time of war is fascinating. It makes me want to spend an hour or two on my laptop researching the facts that supported this story. Tessa Arlen did a good job painting a picture without getting mired in the dry facts, romanticizing these women and weaving the mystery of two of their deaths.

I really enjoyed this novel. Yes, it was simple, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t smart. It just had an air of innocence that reminded me a bit of an old episode of Superman before the onset of special effects. If you love an old fashioned novel, then the Poppy Redfern series should be on your TBR. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for my honest review and it was honest!

A certain intrepid WWII-era woman is back and has a new mystery to solve. Is it murder among the Attagirls? After appreciating the first book. with an engaging mystery set against the home front of England at War, I was eager to follow Poppy to London and see her spread her wings outside her village setting.

Poppy Redfern and the Fatal Flyers is the second book in a series. A reader might dive in and do all right, but Poppy, Griff, and their situations are all introduced in the first book and I found it was better having read the first one.

In book one, Poppy Redfern and the Midnight Murders, Poppy is chafing to get out and do something meaningful for the war effort, but had been stuck in her backwater village. Then she paired up with American flyer, Griff, to solve a series of murders and made a name for herself. But, ironically, she’s now languishing as nearly an office girl and longing to get into the action, which happens when she gets assigned to help with a propaganda film involving the Air Transport Auxiliary, an amazing group of civilian women pilots who step up to ferry planes about to free up the male pilots for combat. Incidentally, I’ve read other stories about these heroic flyers who moved planes and it was a hair-raising job much of the time.

Anyway, Poppy ends up working a piece about the Attagirls and soon spots foul play. Like the first book, she is plucky, but also an amateur so she suspects some wild exotic poison and dives into her sleuthing with fervor. I could have wished she had handled her way of catching her villain differently, it turned out to be a more complicated end than I saw coming. Part of that was because Griff was working his own line of the mystery and dug up even more.

Speaking of Griff, I was glad he was back and they are in the boyfriend-girlfriend status even if Poppy was giving him the stiff Brit routine much of the time. On one side, I was annoyed with her, but on the other, I get it- there’s a war on and she’s still pretty young and just getting her feet wet out there in the big wide world. They were working separate lines of investigation and had separate responsibilities for work so it was mostly time inside Poppy’s head about their relationship more than actual relationship time. I have a feeling things will settle down over the course of the series.

It did lag in the middle. The lush war-time setting and situations were painted well and I found that more fascinating than Poppy or the mystery at times as she checked out people and their stories. It was neat being in the Attagirl world. I can’t say I was thoroughly satisfied with that finish of the mystery either, but it did make sense when looking back on what came before.

All in all, I enjoyed this latest Poppy mystery and definitely want more. The author puts the time in to draw the setting and people well. The mysteries can draw out, but do get there. Historical mystery fans who like a young, intrepid heroine in war-time should give these a try.

It’s been a while since I have read anything by Tessa Arlen but I have loved her Lady Montford mystery series and I was excited to start her latest series featuring new heroine, Poppy Redfern.

I started reading the first book when it first came out but then something happened to my copy and I couldn’t locate it for months. I have a feeling mom or sister took it off my nightstand but I have yet to discover incriminating evidence.

Sadly I picked up something else and got distracted and never went back to Poppy Redfern but with this one coming out, I was really excited to dive back into one of Arlen’s exciting mystery novels and get acquainted with this new heroine even if I hadn’t read the first book yet.

Summary
Poppy Redfern is back on the case when two female fighter pilots take a fatal dive in an all-new Woman of World War II Mystery by Tessa Arlen.

It is the late autumn of 1942. Our indomitable heroine Poppy Redfern is thoroughly immersed in her new job as a scriptwriter at the London Crown Film Unit, which produces short films featuring British civilians who perform acts of valor and heroism in wartime. After weeks of typing copy and sharpening pencils, Poppy is thrilled to receive her first solo script project: a fifteen-minute film about the Air Transport Auxiliary, known as Attagirls, a group of female civilians who have been trained to pilot planes from factories to military airfields all over Britain.

Poppy could not be more excited to spend time with these amazing ladies, but she never expects to see one of the best pilots die in what is being labeled an accident. When another Attagirl meets a similar fate, Poppy and her American fighter-pilot boyfriend, Griff, believe foul play may be at work. They soon realize that a murderer with a desire for revenge is dead set on grounding the Attagirls for good. (summary from Goodreads)

Review
First of all, I want to comment how wonderful these covers are. They are eye catching, interesting, and capture the feel of the era and are meant to lure readers of WWII novels in immediate. Full disclosure, the cover got me before I even read the story. Being a fan of historical mysteries in this period, the cover spoke to me and my reader heart. So big kudos to the cover design team because you guys nailed it!

Having not read the first book in the series, I felt at a slight disadvantage. I do think I need to unearth my copy or order a new one so I can go back and read the first book all the way through so I can get a better understanding of Poppy as well as her romantic interest, Griff. Part of my felt like Poppy was a little to indifferent to Griff and I wondered how they got together in the first place so I think going back and reading more about them and Poppy herself would have made me enjoy that aspect of the story a little more.

In this book there was a lot of commentary and orientation regarding the ATA girls flyers. At first I found it interesting and was excited to learn more about them, but then at some point it became a little overwhelming and I wanted to get back to the main mystery. But I didn’t think it was horribly distracting, just a personal preference.

I did enjoy Poppy’s character. She has wonderful pluck and sass that I would expect from a period mystery novel like this. I am really looking forward to the direction of this series and seeing how Poppy evolves throughout the books to come. I am also going to go back and read the first book in the series so I can fully appreciate Poppy and Griff. I personally favor the Lady Montford mysteries but I think this series could easily grow on me and I am excited to see what’s coming up!

Book Info and Rating
Paperback, 320 pages

Expected publication: December 1st 2020 by Berkeley

ISBN139781984805829

Free review copy provided by publisher, Berkley, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and in no way influenced.

Rating: 4 stars

Genre: historical mystery, mystery, detective novel

Having really enjoyed the first book in this series, Poppy Redfern and the Midnight Murders, I couldn't wait to read this one. I wasn't disappointed. Author Tessa Arlen put me right in the middle of not only a film crew but also an amazing group of women who flew for the Air Transport Auxiliary. I've read about them, and I am so pleased that a great deal of World War II women's history is finally coming to light. These women flew planes in all sorts of conditions-- new, repaired, damaged-- in all sorts of weather to all parts of Britain as well as France and Belgium. The planes they flew had no weapons so they couldn't defend themselves, and they were not allowed to use the radios. (Heaven forbid. They're women and might start chattering away. The Royal Air Force was really a dinosaur in its attitudes.) Many of these women had far broader flying experience than their male counterparts in the RAF, but when they landed their planes at RAF fields most of the time they were allotted no sleeping, bathing, or toilet facilities. However, they weren't in it for the perks; they loved what they did. (Read Arlen's notes at the back of the book.)

Poppy's job as scriptwriter gives her carte blanche to interview the Attagirls multiple times which really helps in her investigation. My liking for Poppy continues to grow. She's brave, intelligent, and resourceful, and her behavior around her American fighter pilot boyfriend can make me smile.

The mystery is a good one, too. In fact, I am happy to report that I was only partially correct about the solution, and-- due to the number of mysteries I read-- I always like when that happens. Anyone who is even remotely familiar with Agatha Christie's work will do a double-take just like I did when they come across a certain sentence. (Don't worry, I'm going to let you find it for yourselves.)

Poppy's job in the Crown Film Unit has the potential to take her to all sorts of places, and I certainly look forward to joining her in all of her adventures. Now comes the wait for book number three.

(The following review will appear on CriminalElement.com the week of the title's publication.)

It’s October, 1942, and former air raid warden Poppy Redfern has taken on a vital new job: keeping British morale high with rousing propaganda films highlighting war-time heroism.

A month into her new job, she’s finally been handed her first project, writing the script for a short film about the Air Transport Auxiliary pilots at Didcote Airfield. Colloquially known as the “Attagirls”, these female volunteers ferry fighter planes and bombers across the United Kingdom to wherever they’re needed most, flying low and unarmed with only a compass and local landmarks to guide them.

Poppy is immediately impressed by the trailblazing women she encounters, a colorful lot of aviation pioneers:


June looked around the room. “You are in the rarefied company of firsts: Vera Abercrombie is the first woman commander appointed to the ATA; actually, she might be the first woman commander anywhere. Letty is the first woman pilot to ever be awarded a Class Five license to fly four-engine aircraft. Sir Basil was the first flying ace of his company in the last war and then went on to design some of the most advanced aircraft of his time. Recruiting women to the ATA was his idea in the first place.”
She had bowed her head to each as she acknowledged them. “And then of course there is our first star pilot: Edwina Partridge.”
I glanced at June to see if she was being snide, but her pleasant face expressed nothing but acknowledgement of Edwina’s skill.


Between the six lady pilots, there’s plenty of heroism to showcase in the film — such as daring Luftwaffe encounters and accidental foggy landings on Nazi airstrips — and Poppy knows this film will be an exciting one for theater audiences.

But then the light-hearted day of exciting aerial maneuvers turns tragic, and the movie cameras capture more than hotshot pilot showcasing their skills.


I looked around me. Annie was staring intently at the plane. Sir Basil, Letty, and Grable were standing together, their gaze fixed upward. Only Zofia articulated what was happening. “She’s losing control…” she cried, and I noticed how strong her accent was. “Pull up,” she yelled. “Get that damned nose up.”
And as if Edwina had heard her, the plane started to level out.
“Thank God, she’s got it back again,” someone said. The Spitfire was hardly flying level, but it had stopped its terrifying plummet. Now it was coming toward us, flying just above the treetops.
Sir Basil’s voice, harsh with disbelief, lifted above the cries of distress. “What the hell are you playing at?” he cried out as the plane careened overhead. Neither a lady nor a bitch, and certainly no longer a creature of power and grace, the Spitfire was simply a metal tube with wings as it veered sharply to the right…


In the aftermath of the crash, the mechanics insist there was nothing wrong with the plane. The fault must lie with the pilot, who had been nervy and known to over-indulge, especially in recent weeks.

But that explanation doesn’t sit well with Poppy. True, she’d only known the woman for a few hours prior to her death — but she’d struck her as a sober professional that morning when she climbed into her cockpit. Everyone readily admits Edwina was the ATA’s ace pilot, with thousands of hours and years of experience under her belt. How could she have so catastrophically lost control of her beloved plane while doing the most basic of tricks?

A suspicious Poppy begins to dig deeper with the help of her friend Griff O’Neal, an American Army Air Force pilot (who may or may not be part of some clandestine secret department to boot), and the internal voice of her own plucky creation, Ilona, to chivvy her on.

And when a second Attagirl suffers a fatal crash, Poppy becomes convinced: someone is ruthlessly murdering Britain’s first women of aviation. If she doesn’t expose the culprit quickly, the rest of the Attagirls may soon fall out of the sky…

In the second installment in her A Woman of World War II series, Arlen continues to deliver the well-researched goods. The vivid sense of time and place rings true throughout, with the central plot liberally peppered with period asides about rationing, the sad fate of many English pets, and the necessity for blackout drapes, torches, and headlights. New character Zofia adds a different perspective on a war we often see primarily through a British or American lens, by recounting her experiences in Poland as the Nazis invaded. And the conversations between Poppy and Griff colorfully illustrate that old George Bernard Shaw idiom that “England and America are two countries separated by a common language”.

Arlen also uses the framework of the primary mystery to touch on a variety of deeper topics: the habitual reticence, reserve, and “stiff upper lip-ness” of the English; the stark divisions between social classes, even amongst the Attagirls; how the war truly reshaped life in Britain and paved the way for more freedom for women; and, of course, how pervasive misogyny is, forcing women to constantly go above and beyond. “Men will go out of their way to support a hardworking colleague if he makes a mistake,” Poppy observes to herself at one point. “A woman simply shouldn’t make them at all.”

During a lunch with a man who initially seemed very forward thinking and open-minded, Poppy is dismayed to hear the following:


“Women are more sensitive than men.” He nodded at the wisdom of his words and then glanced at me to see how they had been received. “I would never say that out loud, you understand. Our Attagirls are strong, highly intelligent women. All superbly trained; many of them do their jobs better than their male counterparts.”
He pushed a piece of pie around on his plate, and I said nothing at all, concentrating on keeping my breath even. I could bet on it that [her] accident had been written off as an accident simply because she was a woman. Never mind that she was in her early twenties: fit, alert, and sober. She had flown more hours than most of the RAF top flyboys. Bosh, I heard Ilona say, what complete and utter bosh. I hate it when men say how “sensitive” we are. As if we crumble into tiny little pieces at the drop of a hat. Next thing you know, he will be blaming it on the full moon.


The feminism of Poppy and the Attagirls is handled with a light touch; Arlen makes it clear how frustrated they are by patriarchal attitudes — a universal, eternal female experience, sadly — but nothing comes across as out of place for the time. Poppy and the Attagirls are trailblazers moving into spheres once wholly dominated by men, yes, but they still feel like products of their age, and are characters who were inspired by factual heroines.

As for the mystery itself, the story does suffer slightly by having key details revealed too hurriedly and in quick succession in the final chapters, which feels rather like a cheat to any clever readers hoping to piece the puzzle together before the ultimate unveiling.

But that’s a forgivable flaw in an otherwise solid and entertaining story. As with Arlen’s previous novels, the real fun is had in the journey, not the destination (though the fingering of the guilty party is exciting, too). The meat of the story lies in Poppy’s interactions with the Attagirls, hearing about their backgrounds and thrilling adventures as they perform dangerous, vital work for the war effort. Arlen recreates the dynamic past so vibrantly, you’ll feel as if you’re on the tarmac of the Didcote Airfield, watching the Spitfires and Mosquitoes roar overhead, no longer in historical black and white but in vivid, living color…

Through Poppy, Arlen has transported us to some of the most definitive scenes associated with World War II: first to the London Blitz and an English village under a blackout, fearful of a bombing, and now to an airfield lined with fighter planes and bustling with pilots. Wherever Poppy turns up next, it’s bound to be an exciting slice of history.

As much as I liked the first book, this one disappointed me.

The mystery is well crafted. An ace female pilot crashes her plane doing a simple maneuver. Then another ace female pilot on the same squad crashes. Poppy investigates whether they were poisoned.

Poppy was rather callous in this book. The way she treats her boyfriend, Griff, was indifferent even though she liked to dismiss her treatment as being British. I don't like reading about these type of unhealthy relationships in romances therefore I don't like them in my mysteries. Regarding her detecting, she was very assured of her own safety as though she knew that she was a spunky heroine in a novel.


This is based on an advanced copy provided through Netgalley for an honest review.

This story is a mystery set in October 1942 in England. This is the second book in the series. You don't need to read the previous novel to understand this one, and this book didn't spoil whodunit from the previous book.

The mystery was clue-based. Poppy immediately suspected poison and kept looking for some exotic poison, never considering some very simple alternatives. At least Griff had some sensible alternative suggestions (and a secret investigation of his own). However, it seemed like most of the story was learning the various backgrounds of the Attagirls and learning about what they did. Which fit as part of the investigation and filming project, but it meant that there weren't that many clues to the actual mystery. It wasn't difficult to solve once Poppy remembered a certain clue, but there was no proof. I enjoyed the story until the end, when Poppy set up a person they think will be the next target so she's in a situation where she might be murdered, but they give her no warning nor do they try to protect her. It's not even clear why they think this will flush out the murderer. Then a simple whodunit suddenly got complex as she and Griff accused multiple people of multiple crimes, some of which happened years in the past and sometimes with little proof. It didn't leave me feeling very satisfied.

There was a fair amount of bad language. There was no sex.

Poppy Redfern is back, and this sequel is just as good as the first one. The historical detail about the female flyers in World War II is pretty interesting.

Poppy has a new job as a writer for London's Crown Film Unit, which produces films that encourage other Britons to take part in the war effort. Ok, it's propaganda, but the women flyers are very talented and proud of their work. When the female pilots begin crashing unexpectedly, Poppy is determined to figure out what's going on even if the military is ready to write it off as pilot error. The solution feels a little like pulling a rabbit out of a hat, but overall I really liked it.

This is such an interesting setting for a historical mystery! I confess that I'm getting tired of Regency/Victorian ballrooms and Roaring Twenties mysteries with rich protagonists, but a WWII mystery with down-to-earth protagonists is just my cup of tea.

I am liking this mystery series! Poppy Redfern and the Fatal Flyers features one of my new favorite crime-solving-while-falling-in-love-while-sharing-some-WWII-history in an interesting enigma. Poppy is writing script for a recruiting movie about the Air Transport Auxiliary Flyers, and the pilots keep dying. Poppy and Griff try to fly "under the radar" and figure out who is behind these deaths before another pilot is murdered. If you like an historical mystery series, this charming novel is definitely one to add to your TBR stack.

I love Poppy Redfern and book two was just as delightful as book one. I love Poppy and Griff's relationship and Poppy's quick wit. I continue to be impressed by Arlen's ability to take a WWII novel and a mystery story and create something that is compelling but also light hearted.

Comfy and cozy but rather slow. This mostly entailed Poppy navel gazing, whether about the murder or her love life. Neither really ever took off here. Despite the tedium, I like them, because they present a nice little picture of English village life that is not unwelcome right now. Good between more serious reads.