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Loading... Mr. Churchill's Secretary: A Maggie Hope Mystery (edition 2012)by Susan Elia MacNeal
Work InformationMr. Churchill's Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeal
  
No current Talk conversations about this book.   ) cspiwak | Mar 6, 2024 |   ) mmcrawford | Dec 5, 2023 | ) everettroberts | Oct 20, 2023 | ) LisaBergin | Apr 12, 2023 | This book was OK, not fantastic to read, but enjoyable since I love historical mystery books. Maggie Hope is a good character and there were a lot of likable characters around her. I can't say that I really liked her relationship with John. For some reasons, their relationship didn't click for me. The plot in this book was interesting, there is a plot to kill Winston Churchill and it doesn't take much brain work to figure at that one person around Maggie isn't who she is saying she is the question is who? There wasn't really any real twist to the story, no real aha moments. Everything unfurled nicely along the way and that was the problem, I wanted the story to be a bit more problematic, more nerve chilling, but alas, it was not to be. Still I will continue with the series. I liked the book enough to feel that I want to read more and I especially liked Winston Churchill in this book. ( ) MaraBlaise | Jul 23, 2022 |
MacNealâs first novel offers such a giddy premise and gathers so much impulse in its opening half that we root for her to close the deal in the second half. Alas, no such luck. The setting is London during 1940âs Battle of Britain; the heroine is a plucky young American named Maggie Hope who wins a job as a secretary to Winston Churchill. Maggie soon finds herself up against German spies, traitorous English Nazis and IRA terrorists. She outwits all the villains with much aplomb until the story stumbles on its own preposterous plot twists. A plucky heroine isnât enough to salvage a plot overly dependent on contrivances, as shown by MacNealâs debut set in 1940 London, the kickoff to a series. The murder of Diana Snyder, a secretary in Prime Minister Winston Churchillâs office, creates a vacancy that American expat Maggie Hope agrees to fill, despite her umbrage at having been previously passed over for a more substantive position there. Maggie adjusts fairly quickly, even as the people of London strive to withstand both German bombs and IRA outrages. Since those behind Snyderâs fatal stabbing as well as their motive are identified early on, the suspense mainly lies in whether Maggie will be able to use her intellect to foil a plot aimed at decapitating the British government. On several occasions, disaster is averted purely by chance, undermining efforts to credit Maggie with saving the day. Belongs to SeriesMaggie Hope (1) Is contained inAwards
Fiction.
Mystery.
Thriller.
Historical Fiction.
HTML:For fans of Jacqueline Winspear, Laurie R. King, and Anne Perry, Mr. Churchillâ??s Secretary captures the drama of an era of unprecedented challengeâ??and the greatness that rose to meet it. London, 1940. Winston Churchill has just been sworn in, war rages across the Channel, and the threat of a Blitz looms larger by the day. But none of this deters Maggie Hope. She graduated at the top of her college class and possesses all the skills of the finest minds in British intelligence, but her gender qualifies her only to be the newest typist at No. 10 Downing Street. Her indefatigable spirit and remarkable gifts for codebreaking, though, rival those of even the highest men in government, and Maggie finds that working for the prime minister affords her a level of clearance she could never have imaginedâ??and opportunities she will not let pass. In troubled, deadly times, with air-raid sirens sending multitudes underground, access to the War Rooms also exposes Maggie to the machinations of a menacing faction determined to do whatever it takes to change the course of history. Ensnared in a web of spies, murder, and intrigue, Maggie must work quickly to balance her duty to King and Country with her chances for survival. And when she unravels a mystery that points toward her own familyâ??s hidden secrets, sheâ??ll discover that her quick wits are all that stand between an assassinâ??s murderous plan and Churchill himself. In this daring debut, Susan Elia MacNeal blends meticulous research on the era, psychological insight into Winston Churchill, and the creation of a riveting main character, Maggie Hope, into a spectacula No library descriptions found. |
LibraryThing Early Reviewers AlumSusan Elia MacNeal's book Mr. Churchill's Secretary was available from LibraryThing Early Reviewers.  
LibraryThing AuthorSusan Elia MacNeal is a LibraryThing Author, an author who lists their personal library on LibraryThing. Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage: (3.54)
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