Olive is an engaging and likable character. The mystery was fast paced and really enjoyable. But it took too long to get to it. Two thirds of the book was all the set up for the military stuff, and the last third was the mystery. The last third was great and I couldn’t put it down. The military set up stuff became really tedious. I kept waiting to get to the point and get back to the mystery. Once the book focused on the mystery, it was great! I am looking forward to the sequel because I’m really interested in what becomes of Olive.

When it’s possible, I enjoy toggling between a book and its audio version. That way I can read when I have time and listen while on walks, etc. This is a system that works well for me and one that I was able to employ with this historical mystery. It is part of a series, with three titles having been released thus far.

Readers will enjoy getting to know Olive. She may just have been given an appropriate surname as she will needs her intelligence in working through the events of the story.

It is WWII. Olive’s close friend George has joined the Air Force while Olive remains (stuck) in her small village. She is helping out her father, a vet, but would like to do so much more. Her hope is that she will find an assignment with her pigeons. Well, happily for Olive and the reader, there is work to be done, quite a bit actually.

Olive becomes involved in a secret project. She also investigates the death of a local busy body.

Here is such an enjoyable read/listen. It is just perfect for fans of historical mysteries. I will definitely read and/or listen others in the series. The narration of the audio book is sport on and easy to follow.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Kensington Books and Tantor Audio for this title. All opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this book - it was interesting to read about the pigeons and their use in war.
There were so many twist and turns it this story - I like it when the villian isn’t obvious and surprised you.

I am a member of the American Library Association Reading List Award Committee. This title was suggested for the 2022 list. It was not nominated for the award. The complete list of winners and shortlisted titles is at <a href="https://rusaupdate.org/2022/01/readers-advisory-announce-2022-reading-list-years-best-in-genre-fiction-for-adult-readers/">

World War II has fully engulfed the continent, but things are much the same in the pretty village of Pipley in Hertfordshire. Despite food shortages, rationing, and other inconveniences, the Women's Institute is determined to keep morale up and do its bit for the war effort. Twenty-two-year-old Olive Bright has bigger hopes, however. She had to interrupt her veterinary studies because of her stepmother's illness and is home helping out in her father's veterinary practice and caring for the family's prize-winning racing pigeons. The Brights hope that the National Pigeon Service will accept the birds to carry coded messages for the British Army. Failing that, she would like to join FANY and serve, as her mother did in WWI, as a nurse or ambulance driver. Her somewhat irascible and demanding father seems to have antagonized the NPS, and hopes are fading. When two young men show up asking to see the pigeons, her hopes are raised until she realizes that neither knows anything about pigeons. Instead, they offer her a chance to work with "Baker Street," a covert operation running missions with the French Resistance. She just has to prove that her pigeons are up to the task. The usual flow of village life is interrupted by murder. Local busybody Miss Husselbee, otherwise known as the "Sargeant Major," had plenty of people who found her absolute certitude on what is proper insufferable, but who among them wanted her dead? The possibility of blackmail and treason seems to be at the center of the case. Olive tries to put some of the methods of her favorite sleuth, Hercule Poirot, to the test to solve the murder.

While I enjoyed the book overall, especially Olive's love and care for her pigeons, I also thought that the plot was going in too many directions. The characters are well-drawn, and the portrayal of village life in wartime excellent. However, it bogged down somewhat. The inclusion of a love-hate relationship with her Baker Street "handler" Jameson Aldridge was one too many elements for me. He could give even her father pointers in obnoxious behavior but does redeem himself in the end,

Thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for a digital copy. The opinions are my own.

RATING- 3 Stars

This was an enjoyable cozy mystery with historical detail. I was not aware of the pigeon service used during the war and I was excited to read about it. Olive was a strong character especially for her time.
Many thanks to Kensington Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Olive is delightful—a smart, energetic young woman who breeds homing pigeons and can’t wait for them to contribute to the war effort. In the end it isn’t the National Pigeon Service that recruits her but a secret intelligence organization, leading Olive to pursue a double life using the cover story of a fake romance with her handler as she prepares her birds to help with their covert operations. Meanwhile, the town busy body is murdered, and spunky Olive is determined to emulate Hercule Poirot and identify the killer from among a pool of people with motive to kill the victim. The whole story is engaging and well done, with fascinating tidbits about the role of pigeons in the military interspersed with the murder mystery and the parallel spy operations. This would make an appealing film.

Minor note: I read an advance review copy, so this comment could be irrelevant now, but there is the occasional slightly distracting anachronism in the text. For example, I’m not sure anyone in a small English town in 1941 would have called something “cringeworthy.”

Thanks to Kensington Books and Netgalley for the opportunity to read a digital advance review copy.

I recently read a book about using pigeons to send secret messages during WWII, but this book unfortunately did not encapsulate the elements of an engaging story.

I always love when you learn about something new that happened during a well documented historical event and Stephanie Graves delivers in this book. The pigeons are incredible animals and should be just as important of a ‘character’ as Olive.

Olive’s life changes dramatically when she and her pigeons are enlisted to help with the SOE during WWII. Around the same time, there’s a murder if the village gossip and Olive starts to investigate.

I liked this as a historical cozy mystery. Olive overall is a good character, a little pushy at times but she’s intelligent and spunky so I liked her. I do wish the pigeons featured more, since I was a bit more interested in them and their role in the war and I felt the murder mystery was the bigger story. All in all though, a good book and I’d definitely read more by this author.

I received a copy of the book from Netgalley to review. Thank you for the opportunity.
An interesting and quirky story with a likable heroine.
A good read.

I tried to get into this book but it just didn’t hold my attention. I thought I’d truly love it based on the description but it just didn’t hold my attention.

I don't know if a series is in the works or not, but this certainly seemed to be the first book in a series about Olive Bright. If so, I will happily read more of Olive's adventures as an amateur sleuth and pigeoneer during WWII.
Olive is spunky and generally smart as she goes about solving a village murder and working to care for her beloved pigeons. Good, clean fun. 4 paws up!


Thank you to Kensington Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This was a book that I enjoyed reading. There was enough of a story to keep me interested. I do like reading historical novels and was not disappointed.

Stephanie Graves, Olive Bright, Pigeoneer, is a fun book which reads like a script for Masterpiece Theater or a series on Acorn TV. The book takes place in Pipley, an English village in 1941. Olive lost her mother to tuberculosis after WWI and Harriet, her step-mother, has multiple sclerosis. Her father is a veterinarian, and he is a pigeoneer. Jonathan, an evacuee from the blitz, lives with the family. Olive was working on her veterinary degree in London until the school closed due to the bombing. She spends her time with the pigeons and reading Agatha Christie mysteries.

Wanting to help out the war effort, they are hoping to have their pigeons be part of the war effort. British Intelligence Officer Jamie Aldridge connects with Olive and wants to use the pigeons but she is not allowed to tell anyone except for Jonathan. The town’s gossip writer, Verity Husselbee, has returned to Pipley. She has the goods about everyone, and it often appears in Mass Observation. At a town get together, Verity is poisoned. Over the course of the novel, Olive uses her skills of Agatha Christie books to solve the case. There is a large cast of characters and I suggest that readers take notes to try to solve the crime.

The war really takes the passenger seat to small town life. We do learn a lot about how pigeons were used to help in the war effort, and there is the starting of a love story between Olive and Jamie. The ending makes this reader believe this book is the start of a series. I enjoyed this book, and it makes for good reading during this cold week of winter. Thank you Kensington Books and NetGalley for an ARC. The opinions in this review are my own.

I was really excited to read hits book. I find the use of pigeons in the war effort fascinating and have never read anything with a similar idea. I loved the character of Olive who was funny, smart, determined, and caring. There were some other great supporting cast members like Jonathan, Poppins (the pigeon), and Jamie. This story had so much potential but unfortunately for me it fell flat. I think the fact that this book was a historical fiction about a fascinating new angle and a mystery prevented either the historical story or the mystery to develop to the level I was hoping for. The story wasn’t bad but it didn’t reach the depth of the story’s potential. The writing was well done and it had the feeling that this was only a first volume in what will be a series. I imagine the love story that began in this story will continue and I liked that potential so I hope it will add to the story and hopefully bring some more depth.

Oh wow! This book is simply amazing! It is entertaining, cozy-mysterious, witty, heartfelt, and full of twists and turns! Whenever I picked up "Olive Bright, Pigeoneer", I was whisked away on a journey like nothing I have read before!

This is the first book I have read by Stephanie Graves, and it certainly won't be my last. She brilliantly weaves history and historical fiction together, and truly knows how to bring a story and characters to life before the readers' eyes. I could envision and every moment, person, and place. I can only imagine the amount of research Ms. Graves put into this book, as each aspect felt so true to the time period of WWII.

Olive is such an intelligent, kind, spunky, brave, and caring heroine who wants to do what is right. She cares deeply for those around her, and when someone she knows is murdered, she will stop at nothing to find out the truth. I found myself putting on my detective hat to solve the murder right along with Olive. I love her love for animals too!

I also really enjoyed learning a lot about the work pigeons did during WWII. What brave, loving, and absolutely incredible animals! I found the author's "Historical Note" at the end very insightful too!

If you enjoy historical cozy mystery and / or historical fiction, I highly recommend this book! It had turning the pages into the early morning to see how everything worked out, and the various aspects of the story all tie in so well. Full of twists and turns galore, I was kept guessing up until the very end...and I was SHOCKED! The puzzle pieces come into place at just the right pace...and I now want to go back and re-read and spot even more clues along the way! I also really enjoyed the many literary references throughout the book (no spoilers here...you will just have to read to see which ones!). I do not know if this is a stand-alone novel or if there will be more books...but, I would love to see a series with Olive solving more crimes, and to see what happens between Olive and Jamie as well!

Thank you so much to Kensington Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC of this book, as well as to Kensington Publishing for sending me a physical ARC to read as well! I so enjoyed the book! All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This is one of those historical fiction books that I was really able to get lost in the story without getting "lost" on what the story is about. Well done!

Thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the arc!

There's more going on in the village of Pipley than meets the eye- which Olive always knew but didn't really know. It's WWII and she's left vet school in London to move home and help her father (a vet) and her stepmother Harriet, who has MS. She's feeling a bit at sea except for when she works with the family's racing pigeons, which so far have not been enlisted in the war effort. Then one day she's visited by Jamie Aldridge- an enigmatic officer who changes her life by involving her (and her pigeons) in SOE ops. At the same time, however, the village busy body is murdered with a poisoned cake made of Spam. And thus Olive becomes a detective as well! I enjoyed this very much. It conveys, occasionally, as almost YA, but then pulls back; it's worth keeping in mmd the relative innocence of 20 year olds in the UK countryside at the time. This has some delightful characters- not just Olive but also Jonathan and young Hen the girl guide. I also appreciated how Harriett was portrayed- not as an evil stepmother bur one loved not only by her family but also by the village. Don't miss the afterword! Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. There's a clear opening here for a follow up and I'm looking forward to it.

I thought I knew what to expect when I started this book, a historical fiction tale of a young woman who trained pigeons to help in the war effort. But it started off with a description of a cozy English village, a large cast of side characters, and a heroine who was enamored with Agatha Christie books.

That was my first clue. This book was such a fun mystery that borrowed from the legend herself!

I loved learning about racing pigeons and their contributions in World War 2. This is the second book I have read that featured them, and I am fascinated. I have so much more respect for the pigeons I see about my neighborhood.

And there were fascinating historical touches. Spam cake iced with whipped potatoes was actually a thing.

I didn't figure out the mystery ahead of time, and I loved how it ended. There might even be a chance for a sequel. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Thank you to NetGalley and KensingtonBooks for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for providing this ARC.

I, too, was looking forward to this novel as something unique. After getting off to a very slow start as all the [too] many characters and the town were introduced and explained, the book then continued to drag. But still hoping for pigeons and war effort, I soldiered on. However I found myself not particularly liking either Olive or Aldridge - she is far too pushy and nosey (yes, I know this is needed for her role in solving the mystery but it went beyond doing that) and he is, indeed like the arrogant Mr. Darcy only, again, too much so.

Then there's the murder. The body is found outside the dovecote on her father's property but the following morning is there a word about what her father and step-mother thought of a dead body on their doorstep? Olive also easily trespasses on a property on which top secret war training is going on - what??

And I'm still waiting for the pigeons.

The writing style was also flat and fairly uninspiring. Sorry but this one is just not for me. DNF