Under the guise of vacationing in the French Riviera, Kitty Bryant and her husband Matt have been asked to conduct a bit of espionage. Their purpose is to retrieve papers from a man named Fred Bennett. Instead, Matt stumbles upon his body. The papers are nowhere to be found. Did his apparent drunkenness the previous night lead to his death, or was there foul play involved?

Despite the fact that they should contact the police immediately, Kitty and Matt first examine the body. Although they don’t find the papers they were looking for, they did discover something on his body which may lead to the cause of his death, and who, in fact, murdered him. Kitty pockets what they found and the pair begin to do what they do best, try to find out what happened. More than several times in the past, the pair have been more than adept at solving crimes, and this time they expect no difference.

Currently in Nice, Italy, checking out the beautiful surroundings and scenery may not be possible. They work independently at times, and sometimes with the local police chief to not only find the killer, but also the papers they were sent to retrieve. Finding someone to trust is no easy matter, not even the police, so Kitty and Matt do their best to stay under the radar as they look for the papers, as well as any answers they can unearth.

Helena Dixon has written another enjoyable book. Although 16 books into the series, each cozy mystery is a delight. Not only are Kitty and Matt wonderful characters, their skill at deducing what happens in their cases is always on point. Then the different settings always make each story quite enjoyable. In this case, their work has more of a nature of a spy story, and with a Second World War seeming more and more likely, this adds an extra layer to an already good book. The stories provide just enough intrigue to keep me tapping my Kindle from beginning to end in one sitting.

Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Kitty and Matt are headed to Nice to find someone who has documents that will help the war effort. Things are heating up prior to WWII, and no one knows who to trust. Good story overall, but felt a bit rushed at times? Might just be me. Still though, like this series and would recommend.

In MURDER ON THE FRENCH RIVIERA Kitty and Matt Bryant are visiting Kitty’s aunt and Uncle at Enderly Hall in Exeter. There are troubling signs abroad and Kitty and Matt are sent to Nice by Brigadier Remington-Blythe, Matt’s boss, to meet the brigadier’s son who has been compromised and can’t complete his mission. When Kitty and Matt are in Nice and find a man who has been stabbed to death, they suspect he was their contact. I read on to find out if the man was the Brigadier’s son and find out who killed the man.

It is good to return to Kitty’s world. I like the 1930’s setting, especially when Kitty and Matt are in Nice. What fun it is to be with them on their adventure. I am glad I have many books in the Miss Underhay series yet to read. Thank you, Boukouture and NetGalley, for the chance to read and review an advance reader copy of MURDER ON THE FRENCH RIVIERA.

This was a fun read and provided a different take on a murder mystery. Kitty and her husband, Matt, set out to retrieve top-secret documents only to find their contact dead. The papers are not on him, and they set out to find out where they might be, but they aren't the only ones interested. Dixon store in a little espionage with this one. Enjoyed.

Thank you to Bookouture, NetGalley, and the author for an advanced reading copy.

In 1936, Matt and Kitty are sent to Nice to try to recover some documents from a British agent - documents with details of Italy's military that many countries would like to possess. They stumble across a couple of bodies, search for the documents, make friends with suspects, and try to avoid the interest of the French police, with the occasional jaunt to a casino. The mystery itself is not too complicated to resolve, with a limited circle of people to investigate, but the backdrop of growing instability in Europe, Germany's aspirations for power, and assorted spies searching for the documents amps up the tension. I enjoyed the setting and the political overtones to the mystery, and Matt and Kitty are a delightful couple. Thanks to NetGalley and publisher Bookouture for the eARC.

It is early 1936 and Kitty Bryant is off on her travels once again. With husband, Mattt, she has been sent to Nice to locate and collect some diplomatically sensitive papers. Unfortunately, before they can begin their assignment an evening stroll leads to the discovery of a body and an interview with the local police chief.

Staying in a beautiful hotel they soon make friends with a few of the guests and find themselves living the high life, visiting some of the more popular tourist attractions, and enjoying the best of Nice's nightlife. Unfortunately close by when a second victim is discovered means the task of remaining incognito becomes increasingly difficult. With their safety compromised and the location of the documents as elusive as ever will they find the information they were sent to retrieve or could this latest and most dangerous case become their last?

Book 16 in this consistently excellent series takes the jeopardy up a notch or two! As the time frame moves to the years just before the start of the Second World War there is understandably a more serious tone adopted here than in most of the previous novels and it is without many of the familiar characters and locations of earlier storylines. It still works well however, and even though I would prefer to read about a less tense period of our history I still thoroughly enjoyed my latest visit with Kitty and Matt.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, Bookouture, but the opinions expressed are my own. This is a great addition to a much loved series and, as always, is easy to recommend.

3.5 stars, rounded down after deliberation. It’s good that Matt and Kitty vary the location for this one, which sees them start and end in Exeter, but feature Nice (and briefly Paris and London) in between. They are sent to meet a contact and retrieve some papers, but no sooner have they arrived than they stumble onto his dead body… while I will always love Kitty and Matt, this plot was just a little simpler than I think the previous books, and the limited cast of characters meant there wasn’t much difficulty in spotting what was going on and who was responsible. It was good to see Matt and Kitty flex their investigative muscles a bit on foreign soil, but it won’t particularly tax the reader to figure out whodunnit here, unfortunately.

I received a free ARC copy of this via NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.