An entertaining and compelling historical cozy mystery, it kept me hooked and had fun in reading it.
I liked how the author mixed historical and fictional characters and the solid mystery that kept me guessing.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I was given a free e-copy of this novel by NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

1917. Vienna.

File clerk turned British agent Fiona Figg is more comfortable wearing a fake mustache than a ballgown.

When a royal ball ends with a royal body in the middle of the dancefloor, Fiona trades her dancing slippers for practical oxfords and sets out to investigate.

As she tracks her nemesis, the Black Panther, from Vienna to the Austrian countryside, a hunting accident makes her rethink her loyalties.

Can Fiona prevent the Black Panther from striking again, save her own skin, and find a decent cup of tea, all before the enemy’s emperor realizes she’s a spy? (NetGalley’s synopsis)

I have not read anything by Kelly Oliver before, but I find that I need to go back to the beginning with this series to better understand Fiona Figg.

I am torn about how I should feel regarding Fiona Figg. On one hand, it is nice to see how women did, in fact, play parts during the war. There aren’t enough historical references that indicate strong, patriotic females. But I also found her annoying and confusing. At times, she reprimands Clifford, her fellow spy, but then conducts herself in a manner that no spy would ever act. For example, getting drunk while her target was sitting in the same room. Or how she lets her emotions concerning individuals overrule common sense. She makes a brilliant detective but she does not appear to be a very good spy, despite her obvious desire for disguises. She was also sent to Vienna where the main language was German and she apparently didn’t speak German very well. Between these discrepancies and Clifford’s blabbermouth capabilities, I kept waiting for them to be arrested for the British spies that they were.

Regardless of Fiona’s character, however, I did enjoy the novel. The historical factors, I found intriguing. I read the disclaimer at the end of the novel and feel that the author did a fine job in sticking as close to the facts as possible. I also found myself researching Emperor Charles and Empress Zita to see how their tale ended, because I had become so enamored with those characters and young Otto. I also wanted to know more about Frederick Fredericks and the Sixtus Affair. That’s what separates a good historical fiction novel from a great one. The ability to make the reader want to learn more about the subject matter.

The mystery, or mysteries, were each complex but not too far apart from one another. There was an underlying theme to them all that I deeply appreciated. I thought the writing flowed very well. The descriptions of places, people, and the food and drinks jumped off the age to me so much that I truly felt like I had also had a Viennese coffee.

Overall I rate this novel 3 out of 5 stars, and will go back to read 1 and 2 before book 4 comes out.

Charming quick read, set in Vienna during World War 1. Fiona Figg is a spy who's been sent off with very little training, but with a passion for disguises ( not unlike Enid Blyton characters). She's supposed to find British agents in Vienna and help them. I really love the setting of Vienna, in any time period at all, and this was quite evocative. The author's inclusion of real life characters, in historically accurate ways was also something I enjoyed- Frau Sacher, Empress Zita, and a very sympathetic Mileva Einstein. I wish Fiona had been a better written character though- the author makes her oddly inept in situations where she needs to keep her wits, while she's otherwise shown as quite intelligent and astute. I also really can't get behind her fascination for future Nazi spy, Frederick Fredericks. On the whole , a quite enjoyable ,if slight read. I want to read the others in the series too, so it did its job!

I have not read the other books in this series (did not even know it was a series) so I do feel that I am probably missing a fair amount of background on the characters. But, overall, it was a good read! I may go back and read the others.

I honestly can’t figure out why I keep reading this series except that I actually do enjoy it in a way, even with all the negative aspects. In this one, its 1917 in Vienna, and Fiona is back trying to track down her nemesis. When there’s a dead body, Fiona is also acting as a sleuth as well.

To sum this up, I like Fiona better a detective because some of her smarts were showcased better. That balanced out her inept spying a bit. I never really understood why they’re sending a non Germs. Speaking spy to Austria, because Fiona is terrible at remembering her cover name, doesn’t act like Clifford’s wife to try to fool people, and some other things. Despite these things, I did like the mystery part, but the espionage part fell flat. This is definitely a better book I think by reading the first two books, I think Fiona’s character traits are a bit worse without any history do I don’t recommend reading this as a stand-alone.

Fiona Figg is a British spy who’s currently in Vienna to stop her archnemesis the Black Panther. While trying to find out what he is up to and doing what she was sent there to do, Fiona get entangled in not only one but two mysteries to solve.

I didn’t like this book at all. Fiona must be the worst spy there ever was. She got a „crash course“ in pretty much everything but is so noticeable that it’s a miracle she wasn’t shot by the Austrians already.
Fiona has a photographic memory which must be why she went from file clerk to spy but this characteristic isn’t redeeming at all. All she does is sweat, complain about cigars and cigarettes and keep her distance from dogs (what does it say about somebody who doesn’t like dogs? Small ones at that??)
She is so bad, I couldn’t stand her.

Her „bodyguard“ Clifford is a tool. I don’t know why he doesn’t know what Fiona’s task is, it seems very strange to give her a bodyguard but not tell him what’s happening. Plus why would she need a bodyguard when she is pretty low on the spy clearance list?

What I found very strange is that everybody knew how to speak German - except for Fiona. The German parts were faulty a few times and I don’t think that back in those times a simple butcher was fluent in another language. The hotel workers maybe but considering Fiona was playing an English-born German she sure didn’t try to hide her abhorrent language skills. With her photographic memory she should’ve been better.

I don’t think I will read another book of this series because not even the romantic relationship(s) were inviting.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book in the Fiona Figg series. Fiona Figg is a British Spy sent to Austria to prevent her nemesis, Frederick Fredericks, from assassinating his next target. Is she the best spy? Probably not... but her confidence, wit, charm and dry humor definitely makes up for it! This book transported me to Vienna in the 1900s and honestly by the end of it, I just desperately needed to find a good Sacher Torte recipe. I'd highly recommend this book for a light, entertaining read!

Third book in the Fiona Figg mystery series, but can be read as a stand-alone, though the end is open.
This book is set in Vienna during the First World War. Fiona Figg is an awful spy, not even speaking German, forgetting her cover etc. Perhaps it´s meant to be funny - and there are funny parts in it -, but especially in the beginning it´s rather annoying. I live in Vienna and speak German, so I can confirm there are many faults and chlichés in it, lots of name-dropping, so perhaps more apt for people who don´t know much of Vienna or the Austrian history.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC ebook in exchange for an honest review.

As the first world war rages on, British spy Fiona Figg has been sent to Vienna in the hopes of tailing the ever-elusive Black Panther, Fredrick Fredricks, before he can assassinate his next target. The catch? He invited her to follow him…Trap or not, she will soon find out.

First off, I did not read books 1 or 2  in the series prior to reading Villainy in Vienna, but I never felt deterred by that. In fact, the few necessary details provided by Oliver left me intrigued and wanting to go back and read the earlier publications rather than feeling alienated or left out of the loop. Friends know this about me: I am very weary of modern cozies that give the amateur detective/spy a first-person narration. Usually, I find the narrators too artificially “quirky” with a forced humor and personality. Another reason I steer clear of first-person detective POVS is because the author’s effort to keep clues from me but not from the detective…while I am literally in the detective’s head…is quite annoying. With all of that said, I really like Fiona Figg, the amateur spy and narrator in Villainy in Vienna. I didn’t find her internal monologue overbearing like I usually would, and I believe the setting helped with that. Golden Age detective fiction has a reserved air around it, and I believe Oliver blends this quality nicely into the narration as the book is set in Vienna during World War I.

Speaking of the setting, I liked how Oliver  immerses her readers into the Viennese culture and the war-time politics and paranoia. The atmosphere felt authentic and intriguing. It made me want a Viennese coffee badly! I am also now dying to attend a masquerade ball…perhaps “dying” is the wrong word choice. Speaking of, I appreciated the variety in mysteries that Oliver includes within the narrative. We have the overarching plot that involves espionage and assassination attempts, but also smaller mysteries involving a dognapping, a stolen notebook, and a trolley accident.

A few aspects of the book that made me like it but not love it include the slow pace of the novel. The beginning felt well-paced and packed with mysterious incidents, but with the many times Fiona plans to investigate, there seems to be very few victories in gathering necessary information until two-thirds of the way through the book. I also found my deductive skills outdid that of Fiona in a few instances where I caught on to things a few pages before she did. Even with these criticisms, I am intrigued enough to want to go back and read books 1 and 2 in the series, like I said previously.

This is the third Fiona Figg mystery. Fiona's husband, now deceased, left her for another woman and she ended up going to work for the government. She specializes in disguising herself in costume to gather information. This time out she is in Vienna hobnobbing with the royals there. She has a professional frenemy whose steps she is dogging. She finds him exasperating and a little bit titillating at the same time.

Fiona Figg is a seriously inept spy. These are clearly meant to be comic novels, and the reader has to take that into consideration. There are some sobering observations about the Great War, and the high cost amongst the young men of that generation, and the pointlessness of war in general. But in general these madcap light books have a humorous tone. If you need to have your mystery plots make perfect sense and be logical, this might not be your cup of tea.

I am fond of historical mysteries set in this time period, the World War 1 era. But I have read two of this series and probably won't go on. Thanks to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Le premesse e L’ambientazione erano promettenti, ma ho trovato la scrittura forzata nel tentativo di essere brillante, è una generale aria di mediocrità.
Perfetto per chi cerca un cozy mystery senza impegni, ma se si vuole qualcosa di più non vale la pena perderci tempo

The enterprising Fiona Figg is in Vienna, thanks to an invite from Fredrick Fredricks, that dastardly German spy, big game hunter and overall cheeky, dashing fellow.
Saddled with Clifford Douglas, posing as her husband, by order of the War Office, Fiona is there to hopefully thwart Fredricks' attempt to murder another double agent.
Fiona meets with the Empress, reads Sherlock Holmes stories to kids, makes a few mistakes, solves a murder, a dognapping and a theft, so, not a wasted trip, even with the unfortunate loss of an agent. She gets to spend a little time with agent Archie Somersby again, whom she met in England originally, and finds Clifford has his uses.

Fiona is irrepressible, and despite her belief in her silliness, makes a number of good deductions about people and situations. She also recognizes that the men of the War Office need to listen to what she says, and to divulge more pre-assignment to her, for her to be more effective at her job. She's growing in confidence as an agent, and in her abilities, and it's fun to watch.

This series has so far been light, a little silly, but also really interesting in how author Kelly Oliver includes real-life individuals and events. I learned a little about an event near the end of World War I, and liked how quietly subversive Fiona's thoughts are about the aims and attitudes of the men around her and those leading countries.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Level Best Books for this ARC in exchange for my review.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
Three initial thoughts:
1. I don’t care what cringy cliche Fiona’s dearly departed, good old dad used to say. It was not a cute character quirk.
2. If I hear “golly” or “old girl” one more time, I’ll scream.
3. Fiona Figg is a terrible spy. She forgets her own cover name, is not good at pretending to be Clifford’s wife (also why is he even in the book?) and actually disguises herself as Charlie Chaplin. Yikes. Fiona constantly asks herself throughout the book if so-and-so knows she’s a spy. Yes, Fiona. Everyone knows.

The plot of this book was a bit of a mess. Clearly, I should have read the prior stories as there was much alluding to Fiona’s past lovers and situations. This book was a string of unconnected and random problems. I’m pretty sure she wasn’t sent on a mission to find stolen dogs or Albert Einstein’s wife (yes) stolen journal. Yet we ended up with an extremely long book about both (and about Fiona failing miserably at what she’s supposed to be finding out). In one instance she finds a string of numbers on a Sherlock Holmes story, which the cover was used as a blotting page? I think? And it takes her like four paragraphs to figure out the Sherlock Holmes story is the decoder.

Positive points: the villain is interesting, the historical tidbits are fun, and I appreciate the effort at creating a “cozy espionage mystery.”

I don’t think I’ll continue following Miss Figg on her journeys.

When I first obtained Villainy in Vienna from NetGalley I immediately went and got the first two in the series and I am so glad that I did. These really need to be read in order. I started the first one on New Year's Eve, the second one on New Year's Day, and will have the third (being Villainy in Vienna) finished within the next couple of hours.

As a standalone I don't know if I would give it five stars, but the three of them together? Definitely 5 for me.

I haven't turned my television on in days because all I want to do is see what Fiona is getting up to next.

And I may be crushing on the suspected villain.

Quite a lot, actually.

With the inclusion of many historical details, Oliver did a fantastic job transporting her readers to 1917 Vienna.

I can't speak to whether all of the historical details are accurate or not - and of course, this is a fiction novel, so some creative license is to be expected. But, I thought that they were a very nice touch. They greatly contributed to establishing the setting and tension of the novel.

As for the mystery component, it was very complex, with many characters and storylines to keep track of. While I'm impressed by how full this mystery was, personally, I found myself getting confused at times trying to remember which characters were connected to which storylines. I enjoyed the historical nature of the novel more than the mystery itself.

The suspense surrounding Fiona's precarious position as a British spy in the Austro-Hungarian Empire kept me on the edge of my seat. Still, she's a better detective than she is a spy. Maybe this was covered in an earlier novel, but I'm a bit confused as to why her only duty is to tail one German spy who is targeting other low-level British spies given the larger context of a world war. She also lacks skills that I'd think would be crucial for a spy in Vienna like being able to speak German or being able to lie with ease.

These critiques aside, I really enjoyed reading this novel and I'd definitely read other books in this series in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Level Best Books for providing me with an ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

This is the first book in the series that I've read. It works as a standalone, but in order to get a fuller understanding of the story and some of the recurring characters, I think it's best to start at the beginning of the series.

This is a very well written historical mystery. Historic details to the time period were both spot on and interesting. Characters were both fun and quirky. The mysteries in the novel were well developed and had many twists and turns that kept me guessing until the very end. I look forward to more books in the series and this is definitely a novel I’d recommend to anyone who likes a good solid mystery!!!

I read this book early through NetGalley. It’s the first I’ve read in the series and I do think I’ll try the others.

Overall I liked the book. It is very similar to the Her Royal Spyness series by Rhys Bowen. Both are set in similar time periods, feature an amateur young female spy and fictionalized versions of real people and events. I did not pick up on it in this book, but both series also borrow ideas from some classic Agatha Christie novels.

There were a few things I did not like. Most had to do with repetition and could be easily corrected.
1. Overuse of the words “blackguard” and “deuced”
2. Fiona dressing like a boy/man gets a little old. She does it twice in this book and mentions it several more times. It’s mentioned she did it In at least one of the prior books. It seems a bit much.
3. Archie blows kisses at her twice. Do people do that?
4. The contents of her spy kit were enumerated too many times. Once or twice would have been enough.
5. Like Georgie in Her Royal Spyness she says things like “golly”, “crikey” and “blimey” often and the chastises herself for it. It feels copied from the other series and probably should be toned down more or left out.

I honestly looked forward to reading this each evening and the book was a good length. The mysteries themselves were not super compelling, but the story moved on nicely. I wanted to see where it went. I loved the inclusion of Mileva Einstein. It would have been fun if the code featured in the book would have been something the reader could have solved.

In closing, readers of Bowen’s series or light-hearted historical mysteries will enjoy this and Fiona is totally going to end up with that blackguard Fredricks ;-)

1917. British spies Fiona Figg and her 'husband' Captain Clifford Douglas, are sent to Vienna by the War Office to discover who is next on the death list of German spy Fredrick Fredricks. Though it does not seem intelligent to send a virtual non speaking German spy to Austria.
A historical cozy mystery but unfortunately I just didn't take to Fiona's character which did tend to spoil the story
An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received a copy of this title from the publisher; all thoughts and opinions are my own. 3.25 stars rounded down to 3. Villainy in Vienna is the.third title to feature sort of British spy Fiona Figg and her nemesis Frederick Fredericks. I really enjoyed this story and like the battle of wits between Frederick and Fiona. I think this series is continuing to get better with each title and appreciated the less emphasis on disguises than in the first and second titles. Fiona finds herself sent to keep tabs on Frederick in WWI Vienna when he sends her an invitation to attend a masked ball hosted by the king and queen of Austria. Fiona quickly finds herself involved with a dog napping, the first Mrs. Einstein, and a murdered nanny in addition to attempting to prevent Frederick from harming undercover British spies. Fiona is quite delightful and is continuing to grow in her role as a spy. The mysteries kept my attention throughout, and I really enjoyed the descriptions of Vienna including the food and Sacher hotel. I'm hoping there will be future titles featuring Fiona that will continue to showcase her development as a spy as she gains confidence and experience.