His Majesty's Hope, A Maggie Hope Mystery, by Susan MacNeal (Random House Books, 2013, $16 [PB], 354 pages)
Almost too exciting to read at night, His Majesty's Hope, is the third in a series of 10 historical sort-of mysteries but more like spy stories. We read it faster and faster! On the other hand, some of the just-in-time escapes seem too quick and easy to be true, and glossed over.
Hope has everything - a modern multilingual woman, some history, some opera and literature, some math, some code breaking, Bletchley Park, a couple of love interests, and a lot of Nazis - even references to Alan Turing (in person), Schroedinger's cat, and the St. Louis, a ship of European refugees that was not permitted to land in the US (much to our shame).
Plus a small world where everyone seems to know everyone else or is related to another but doesn't know it but ends up meeting quite by chance.
Our heroine, just having finished her spy training, is parachuted into Nazi Germany and eventually Berlin with cyanide, a camera, and radio parts, with the task of planting a transmitter in a Nazi 'owned' mansion at a birthday party for a high-ranking opera-star spy. Our heroine, raised in the US but having been schooled in Switzerland and Germany and now living in London, has knowledge of several languages which also explains her unique accent in them.
Other titles in the series appear below. I would suggest starting with one whose title or cover illustration appeals to you the most. I can't believe any other title could be as breathlessly exciting as Hope - set behind the lines in Nazi Germany with twist after twist. The movie would keep you on tenterhooks with more emphasis on plot than characters!
10. The Hollywood Spy
9. The King's Justice
8. The Prisoner in the Castle
7. The Paris Spy
6. The Queen's Accomplice
5. Mrs. Roosevelt's Confidante
4. The Prime Minister's Secret Agent
3. His Majesty's Hope
2. Princess Elizabeth's Spy
1. Mr. Churchill's Secretary
No comments:
Post a Comment