Maggie Hope Mystery Series

Susan Elia MacNeal

1. "Mr. Churchill's Secretary" - not yet read - England
2. "Princess Elizabeth's Spy" - finished 6/7/20 - England
3. "His Majesty's Hope" - finished 5/26/20 - Germany
4. "The Prime Miniter's Secret Agent" - finished 6/23/20 - Scotland
5. "Mrs. Roosevelt's Confidante" - finished 4/21/20 - USA
6. "The Queen's Accomplice" - finished 3/17/20 - England
7. "The Paris Spy" - finished 5/2/20 - France
8. "The Prisoner in the Castle" - Finished 5/10/20 - Scotland
9. "The King's Justice" - finished 6/12/20 - England

I like mysteries primarily and historical fiction. This incorporated into one series. The series is set in WWII England, France, Germany, and the USA. Maggie Hope is English raised in America by her aunt after her mother supposedly died in a car accident and her father was unavailable. Her aunt is a very smart woman who teaches at a University. Maggie is also very smart and has a degree in mathematics. When her British grandmother passes, she is left the family home and moves from the USA to England. She invites friends to move in with her as she works for the British during the war. She starts out as the Secretary to the Prime Minister - Winston Churchill (I have not read this book yet) and then moves on to becoming an SOE agent to go as a spy into the Nazi-held territories. When she fails the physical side of it, she is given a job of tutoring Princess Elizabeth and being nearby to find out who is going to take the Princess and try to kill her father, King George. Then she goes back to SOE and is able to finish the program and is sent to Germany, where she finds out she has a half-sister and her fiancee who went missing as a flyer over Germany. When she comes back she is hired to train new SOE agents but is encouraged and forced to get back to life. When she goes to see her friend, Sarah, dance in a ballet and the lead is dead, she works with MI-5 to find out how it happened and who was to blame. Then she ends up back as Churchill's Secretary and they go to the USA to meet with President Roosevelt. While they are there someone is trying to threaten the First Lady, Eleanor. She is helped by Maggie. When they come back to England, she is now working on decoding messages sent from SOE agents in the field. While she is doing this many of the women who are working as code breakers are being murdered by a serial killer. Maggie goes to work to find out who is doing this to the women who are working to save England. When she feels that the supervisor of the area she is working in isn't paying attention when she points out that something is not right in the codes coming from Paris, she convinces the Queen to help her get on a plane headed to Paris so she can find out for herself what is happening. She has a dual mission, she wants to find her half-sister who had been arrested by the Nazis and was sent to a camp. They are able to save her and she escapes into Paris and Maggie wants to find her and bring her to England. When she returns from Paris, she is briefed on a plan that is still putting the lives of the SOE agents in danger. She is angry that the government would do this to their citizens and she is arrested and put in a castle on an island in Scotland. While she is there she refuses to tell anyone what she knows and just reads, knits, and walks and swims. When people start dying they call for help and they are on their own until help arrives. When they learn that she never spoke to anyone about what she knew is allowed to return to England to testify in the trial of the Black Out Killer - the man who was killing the women. When his execution date gets closer another killer makes an appearance and starts murdering men who are conscientious objectors. When a man she is working with disappears she goes to work to find him and what happened to him before he becomes the next victim.

I enjoy these stories mostly. I did not enjoy book 4 very much as it seemed to jump around more than the other books. Following Maggie, as she works as an instructor for SOE and then jumping over to her mother who seems to be exhibiting multiple personalities then to the USA either Hawaii or DC. It would take me some time to figure out where we were and then get back to the storyline. 

As you can see, the story is very interesting and flows very nicely, but I have not been reading the stories in order. She does a nice job of giving just enough background in each story so that you can follow without having to read in order. 

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