The Last Letter from London

This is the third book in Pam Lecky’s series starting with Her Secret War. I haven’t read those books, but am going to go back and start from the beginning to really appreciate this third book.

MI5 Agent Sarah Gillespie is tasked with being the handler of double agent Adeline Vernier and can’t decide whether she should trust Adeline or if she has her own agenda that will hurt many others along the way.

This book is a terrific read that had ups and downs, romance, intrigue, and oh yeah, a war going on with millions of lives at risk.

I really enjoyed that it wasn’t easy to figure out the plot in the first part and there were lots of twists in the plot that had me guessing along the way. I love historical fiction and this didn’t disappoint.

As I said, I’m going to go buy the first two in the series and hope that there are more to come. Sarah was a great lead character.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

An amazing addition to Sarah’s story - straight from the real life MI5 files with a plot device that really happened during WWII.

This third book in Pam Lecky’s excellent series sees main character Sarah facing some critical missions at work and some challenges in her relationship with American Navy officer Tony. This installment is set almost two years after the last one. Lecky is a great writer, and the story moves along at a fast pace even as we get a lot of Sarah’s internal monologue, which to me enhanced the story. The tie-in to real historical events made the stakes of Sarah’s work seem very real. This book sets up nicely for another installment, which I hope comes quickly. I strongly recommend reading at least the second book before reading this one, but the whole series is great. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

I love historical fiction centered on women’s perspectives and The Last Letter from London had me engaged from start to finish. This book has it all - espionage, romance, friendships, travel - all set with the backdrop of WWII. Pam’s writing is heavy on dialogue, which helps you quickly move through the story and get to know the characters. Excited to read more from this series!

Okay I’m not usually a huge historical fiction person, but when I read the blurb I was excited to read this! And it didn’t disappoint! It was a little slow in the early chapters, but once you get past that, it was really good!

Great read!! Spies have feelings too! I loved how the story unfolded and made me not want to put this book down!! I highly recommend any read by Pam Lecky!

We opened by waking up to disappointment Tony was leaving. We jump right into heavy exposition I have no reason to care about and nothing to connect it with. I don't have any investment in anything and this all just threw me off. Not for me personally. I stopped at the end of chapter 1 (4%).

Thank you to NeGalley and Harper 360 for the ARC.

This was my first time reading Pam Lecky’s work, and I really enjoyed it. I love historical fiction, especially when it takes place during World War 2. Another aspect of this book that intrigued me was the heroine, Sarah, being an MI5 agent. The beginning dragged a bit, but the remainder of the book was exciting with its plot twists, and I like that real historical events are part of this story. I’ve seen comments by other reviewers that The Last Letter from London is part of a series, and now I wish I’d read the first two books before tackling this one because I did feel there were parts of the story I couldn’t grasp. So now I’m on the hunt for the first two books. If you love historical fiction, then I highly recommend giving Miss Lecky’s books a chance. You’ll be glad you did.

The Last Letter from London by Pam Lecky is a suspenseful WWII novel. Spies, double agents, disguises, and danger are around every corner. Will Tony's and Sarah's relationship survive the secrets that must not be shared, even with each other? Will they survive the last months of the war?

A copy was provided for my review, but all opinions are my own.

Thanks to Ballantine & NetGalley for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review. When I began reading this, I did not realize this was a third book in a series but I didn’t think I needed to read the other books to understand this one. This was a slow burn novel to start but then the action, espionage and deception kicked in and I was hooked. I wasn’t a big fan of the romance aspect but I really enjoyed Adeline and Sarah’s story. My favorite part was the guessing, not really know who to trust or who to believe and that kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time I read. Outside of the romance, I really enjoyed this book.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy!

This is the third book in a series which I initially did not know. I do think this book can easily be read as a standalone book. With that being said, I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had read the first two. I do plan on picking up the first two because I enjoyed this one so much.

Sarah’s job is to be the handler of double agent, Adeline. Is Adeline truly wanting to help the Allies or is she a spy sent in by the Germans to gather intel? Sarah’s job becomes even more dangerous when they go from writing coded letters to going on a special operation together.

This story had me guessing the entire time which side Adeline and other characters belonged to which I loved. It was well written and an easy read!

This is number 3 in the series and also an enjoyable read. Since this was number 3 in a series I decided to read the others which were all really good!

Sarah Gillespie is living in London, working for MI5 as a spy, and her friendships with her cousin Judith and friend Gladys, and balancing her relationship with her love interest Tony another spy. She's assigned to be the handler of Adeline, a French girl who has been working for the Germans and wants to work for the Brits. Sarah needs to vet her and then become her handler. At first annoying Adeline, soon grew on me. Flighty and apricious at first, she had a lot more depth as the story went along. I enjoyed the relationship between Sarah and Adeline as they tried to figure each other out. They were both so different. When she went to Lisbon with Sarah it was pretty wild to learn about all the spies there during that time.

Overall, it was a really enjoyable read and I loved the series. It was set in London during WWII amongst a world of spies. I loved learning about her friends, family, love interests as well as their lives outside their various jobs. The author did a great job creating interesting characters.

Thanks to Harper 360, Netgalley, and Pam Lecky for early access to this book!

What a refreshing and engrossing read. I was being more and more amazed at how much research had to be done to write this book as I read it. Sharing Sarah's journey feels like a luxury because she is such a vivid and relatable character. Not in the "I wish I could be in her shoes" sense, but no one in their right mind would choose to live in a post-World War II world where getting by consists of dodging bombed-out buildings, praying that supplies of rations will last, and daydreaming about the possibility that luxuries like stockings will one day be again accessible.
No, this book does a fantastic job of immersing the reader in Sarah's world and allowing them to view events from her extraordinarily courageous point of view. Being an MI5 spy means that Sarah must continuously balance whether to trust individuals, question their intentions, and analyze every conversation she has with them—especially with Adeline, another complex and quirky character. The thing I like this novel the most was how Sarah makes the reader rethink everything and everyone. I would have attempted to help if I could have at some point, feeling more like a friend than an outside observer, wishing to shield and counsel her. I was compelled to participate.
Such a beautiful, refreshing read.

I have received a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Special thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books for the opportunity

This is the first I have read in the series but I will definitely go back and read the first two. The writing swept me up from the very beginning and kept me interested in this tale of espionage, double agents, and daring missions. I wasn’t so much a fan of the romantic aspects but it helped to lighten an otherwise heavy topic. I loved the concept of coded letters and was engrossed by this story of survival in wartime. Looking forward to checking out more in this series.

Pam Lecky brings readers to World War II London and the height of the intelligence community’s efforts to disrupt and dismantle the Nazi war machine in this gripping historical fiction novel. Following MI5 agent Sarah Gillespie, readers embark on a dangerous double-agent campaign, as MI5 is turning German agents to their own uses for the war effort. However, it is World War II, and in the intelligence community, one can never be certain of the loyalties of anyone -- including friends and boyfriends. Sarah is the lynchpin to a new facet of this counterintelligence campaign as the handler for a new double agent, Adeline, who has recently arrived from France and has ties to one of the SS’s top agents. Lecky has done a fantastic job in creating the nerve-wracking, tense, high-stakes atmosphere of military espionage, particularly at this point in World War II, and her characters occupy their roles as spies perfectly as dynamic, complex, and enigmatic figures. Lecky’s settings are appropriately war-torn, detailed, and full of life, and she handles the uglier side of war and espionage well while still maintaining accuracy. The Last Letter from London is an excellent work of World War II historical fiction, and readers will enjoy the high stakes of the period and of intelligence work during World War II.

Russian born but raised in France, Adeline Vernier arrived in England and offered her services as a double agent. Sent by German Intelligence, she is assigned to MI5 agent Sarah Gillespie for vetting. This is a major assignment for Sarah and Adeline is not going to make it an easy one. For her cooperation, she demands that her boyfriend be rescued from occupied Paris, an impossible task. In exchange, she will send letters to her German handler with coded messages prepared by British Intelligence. Planning for D-Day is underway and the misdirection provided by those letters could save thousands of lives.

Sarah’s contacts with Adeline are often adversarial. Adeline does not trust Sarah or MI5 to free her boyfriend. When Sarah feels sorry for her isolation and invites her to a party to meet people, Adeline spends the evening flirting with Tony, Sarah’s boyfriend. It leads to distrust and stress at a time when Sarah is still proving herself to her superiors. A series of tragedies strike and Sarah is forced to take action if MI5’s latest project is to succeed. Although she can not confide her problems with Adeline to her friends, they are aware of the stress she is under and are there to support her. Sarah is sometimes unsure of herself but she has the determination to succeed. Pam Lecky’s The Last Letter from London is a fast paced story that is atmospheric and suspenseful with a bit of romance. This is an enjoyable read for fans of WWII fiction. I would like to thank NetGalley and Harper 360 for providing this book for my review.

I enjoyed the mystery in this story on what Adeline was going to do next. I also enjoyed the romance aspect as well. Typically historical fiction romance can be pretty cheesy and this was no exception. I enjoyed the characters during the story and thought it was well thought out.
Thank you NetGalley for the advance reader copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Sarah Gillespie is an MI5 agent in London during WWII. She’s assigned to handle a defector and double agent, Adeline. She gets information from her lover in Germany through the use of coded letters. However, Adeline is manipulative and Sarah is concerned that she’s double crossing the British. They undertake an operation in Lisbon, a city full of Nazi spies. Is Adeline telling Sarah the truth? Will they get back to Britain safely?
4 stars.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed as in this review are completely my own.

The Last Letter from London was a wonderful telling of World War II from a perspective that is not as often written about, the work that was done by women in London that was absolutely crucial to the outcome of the war. Pam Lecky did an excellent job creating a lifelike historical landscape that the reader was easily immersed in. The characters had strong progression, although I do wish some of the secondary characters could have had more development. Overall, I very much enjoyed this novel and would highly recommend it to a fan of the genre.