**Thank you, Netgalley and publisher, for giving me an electronic ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

I was really interested in this book; however, the characters felt too similar, but the secrets and determination kept my attention.

I was not able to get interested in this book and I did not finish it. The characters and the plot were not able to catch or keep my attention.

I received a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review
This was such a disappointment to me. I excepted better research put into the time period but alas it never seems to happen that way.

I really enjoyed reading about Britian's earliest female spy, it was a fascinating story with great players in the tale. I really enjoyed going through it.

I love the fact that this is based on a true story about a female spy during the time of the Stuart's. I was really hoping to enjoy this book. However, it was hard to keep the characters straight as many of them were so similar and the actual execution of the book just didn't work for me. If the book were cleaned up a bit and the characters added to a biit more, and maybe a few taken out as there were so many, I think it would be a great story.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

Oh no.... I never not finish a book!
Unfortunately, after reading few chapters I could not connect myself to the story line.
I tried once more and the same thing happened after 2 chapters...
So this was a total disaster for me :(
I liked the cover!

This was an awesome book. I have noticed, in the past few years, such a plethora of books taking place in the Regency period, and it is refreshing to go back a little more than a century to the elevated period of the Stuarts. And, refreshing, too, to focus on a female spy. I love books that have an element of the spy game incorporated, and I know that so much mystery and intrigue surrounded the courts of Europe - especially in England. A number of exploits were undertaken to help kings reclaim thrones over the years, and it is great that this book took that theme for its historical fiction point of view. Very well done!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I loved this book- I thought it was an incredibly well-written piece of historical fiction that draws on history without feeling like a textbook at all. I found that although the characters weren't always likeable, they more than kept my attention. (Real people aren't always likeable, right?) The Stuart period isn't often featured in historical fiction, so I appreciated Langman's work in bringing the period to life.

I really enjoyed this. Whilst predominately a work of fiction, there is a strong sense of in-depth research that has gone into the story, which only makes the reader want to discover more (which I did).

The two main characters of Susan and Diana were polar opposites. Susan is complex, serious and dedicated to the task ahead, even though she knows it could very well end in her death. Whilst Diana on the other hand, seems reckless, adventurous, daring, and willing to take a gamble and gain a reputation in the meantime. I was pleased to see a mention of Jane Whorwood, an intelligencer for Charles I. The character of Molly did not really do much for me as I felt she was just a page filler whilst Diana was "off screen" so to speak.

Invisible but ever-present: female spies in the 17th century ...I loved the use of actual historical details in the espionage component - letter locking, invisible ink, codes and cyphers, and the use of disguises and some questionable cross-dressing on the part of Diana. The creation of a "Sisterhood" that was the sole domain of the female intelligencers was done quite well - I am sure that there were some in existance which those in key roles (like Diana and Susan) communicating with various other groups (ie: the Sealed Knot).

However, it was the character of John Thurloe that intrigued me the most to the point that it was with him that my empathy sat - he comes across as vulnerable, tortured, even somewhat likeable, an anti-hero if you will. Thurloe is deserving of his own novel I think.

All in all, this was for me a good read and I happily went off discovering more.

This historical fiction novel was okay. The plotline was kind of interesting, but I did not really like the characters.

Killing Beauties, Pete Langman

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: Historical Fiction

I liked the sound of this, fiction but about real people, and in a period that intrigues me, but which I know little of. Sadly the story just wasn't a great fit for me.

I'm not sure why, perhaps its because I failed to really connect with the characters, perhaps its just that events seemed muddled at times. I need to empathise with someone in a story, but though the setting felt real the characters just didn't ,and I wasn't really concerned with what happened to them.
Kudos to Pete for taking on bringing female spies into the public eye, sadly historically women were treated badly, as secondary to men, and even now the word Spy evokes a man, rarely do we think of female spies. They existed, though, did a hard and dangerous job, even more dangerous because women then were really regarded as unimportant, disposable.
I might come back to this another time, its a well written book, and I'm guessing well researched, certain historically it feels accurate. We're in the throes of Covid19 when I'm reading this, and it may well be my issues, the unsettledness we're all feeling that have affected how I felt about this story. Possibly in a different time I'll get more from it?

Stars: Two, a good story for others but I failed to connect with it.

Arc via Netgalley and publishers

This book was received from the Author, and Publisher, in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

This historical fiction that Is actually based on the astonishing real to life story of one of England’s earliest known documented female spies.

Susan Hyde, the unsuspecting the sister of Edward Hyde, chief advisor to King in exile Charles Stuart. With a daring cast of women the plot centers on Susan’s delicate work as an undercover agent { She-Intelligencer}.

A exceptional meticulous researched book, with vivid incredible atmospheric details,
will transport the reader to 17 century Britain. In a world of dangerous courtly espionage work under the reign of Oliver Cromwell, is treacherous enough for a woman, let alone for a woman. London is weighted down with political drama and there are conspiracies everywhere, no one can be trusted. Betrayal lurks around every corner. The storyline and the character cast engaging. A stunning book that captivating me, the pacing was good, and the authors narration kept reading well past my bedtime.

I thought this book was good but not great, it started well but there were so many similar characters I had trouble keeping track of who did what

This book has four different parts and while I enjoyed part one, which I thought was quite interesting and built up something interesting, the rest of the story felt both rushed and fairly uninteresting. There's too many characters - to the point I had a hard time remembering who was who. That does not make for a good story.

On the plus side, some of the characters are based on real historical people which made me interested in learning more about British history in the mid 1600s.

I read this ARC for an honest review
All thoughts and opinions are mine

A great read
Strong female characters and a great story

This is OK, not great. It's a good premise (particularly since it's based on real people), and it's a little uneven. It doesn't have the polish of a more experienced author (or maybe editor). But I think the author shows promise, and he did some good research.

I really appreciate the review copy!!

This is my first book by this author so i wasn’t sure what to expect.


I love historical romance and strong female characters, so this book was right up my alley. I really wanted to like this book, but sadly it fell short for me.


I enjoyed reading about the cat and mouse game and the way messages where sent, but for me tohe story lacked. it was never made really clear what the mission was and i felt there were a lot of loose ends in the story. it made it hard to read and I had trouble getting into the story.

This was an interesting take on true events and it seemed intriguing to me because I love reading books featuring strong women in the historical setting. The story itself was good but the writing style seemed unorganized and almost awkward. The book had a lot of promise, but unfortunately it was a book I wish I liked a little better than I did. It did have promise as the overall story was good, just the specific writing style didn’t appeal to me.

My thanks to Unbound Digital for a digital edition via NetGalley of ‘Killing Beauties’ by Pete Langman in exchange for an honest review.

‘Killing Beauties’ was also a group read event on The Pigeonhole and I enjoyed contributing comments during our daily staves. Pete Langman also joined us.

This novel is based on the true story of Susan Hyde, the sister of Edward Hyde, chief advisor to King in exile Charles Stuart. Susan is part of a secret network of she-intelligencers – female spies – who manage to gather information to advance the Royalist cause.

In 1655 Susan is given a dangerous mission of extracting information from John Thurloe, Oliver Cromwell’s spymaster, by any means necessary. Assisting her is Diana Jennings and Molly, a young woman who becomes a trainee in the Sisterhood.

I have read two recent historical thrillers that featured women serving as spies. This novel follows a similar premise though is based on the lives of two women who worked behind the scenes during the 17th Century as part of the Sealed Knot.

Pete Langman had been closely associated with historian Nadine Akkerman as she researched and wrote her nonfiction work, ‘Invisible Agents: Women and Espionage in Seventeenth Century Britain’ (Oxford University Press, 2018). It was Nadine who encouraged him to write a fictionalised account of these women and their experiences. Even without knowing this background it’s quite clear that the novel has been well researched.

This proved a very down-to-earth depiction of Britain during this period. Langman’s descriptions were very effective especially in terms of communicating the smells. The bawdy behaviour of the women served to bring some levity to quite a serious novel.

Some of the plot was rather complicated and a bit hard to follow though this can often be the case with novels about intelligence agents. The dialogue was also quite formal reflecting the period.

Overall an interesting novel that was also educational. I am planning to read Nadine Akkerman’s book in the near future.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

I found this book a bit confusing even if the historical background is well researched and vivid.
It failed to keep my attention and the book fell flat.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.