The Prime Minister's Secret Agent

How do I love Susan Elia MacNeal's Maggie Hope series? Let me count the ways.1) The quality of the writing is top-notch. Not just the prose, which is intelligent and interesting and smooth like a deliciously aged, perfected glass of wine, but also the plotting which is intricate and grounded in logic and possibility and there are never any of those last minute surprise solutions which come from nowhere to neatly tie up a complicated plot.2) The characters! I love how the people in this series, Maggie especially, grow and change and evolve, just as people do in real life. And, as they do, so do their relationships. Susan Elia MacNeal's writing is so in the moment and spot-on about human nature that one can't help but start to think of these characters as friends, and as with friends, one finds one's self SHOUTING advice at them, tsking, worrying, weeping, involved in their lives.3) The historical details are riveting. I have never been a history person, but Susan Elia MacNeal effortlessly weaves fascinating details and atmosphere into these stories, some of which have led me to do further research and reading on my own to learn more.4) The world. Susan Elia MacNeal has managed to make each episode a stand alone while also connecting the series into a reality of people and connections and mysteries enriched by reading the series in order. This is the fourth in the series of which I currently own all seven but am rationing because I don't want to run out of Maggie.5) Relevance. Maggie Hope is living in a world and time where hate and horrors committed by those in power are endangering the entire human race. Some stand up to the disease of moral turpitude, while others cower or surrender to what seems expedience, staying silent and inactive in the face of amoral, criminal, repugnant, and unforgivable behavior by those in power. Maggie does not. Despite the personal cost and sorrow, the danger and the despair, she does not compromise her morals nor surrender to evil. She can teach us all a lesson now in this age of a United States being run by an election stealing fascist and his enabling party of hypocrites and bigots.And so, there are a few of the reasons I return to Maggie, and Susan Elia MacNeal's wonderful series, when I am in need of a visit with a friend and an injection of hope and belief in my life.

The Maggie Hope mysteries are one of my favorite historical fiction series to read, not only because of the intelligent, resourceful and determined main character but because of the unique and historically informative viewpoints they give to readers. Maggie has brought us into the belly of No. 10 Downing Street, through the corridors of Windsor Castle, onto the training fields of secret MI-5 facilities and behind enemy lines in Berlin. Mixed in with the historically accurate key players and circumstances we also get to feel along with Maggie as she experiences love and loss during these uncommon situations and singular time period. In this fourth installment we find Maggie healing from the horrific things she has witnessed and the losses she isn't quite ready to deal with. This is a Maggie we haven't really seen before and, to be honest, it isn't my favorite side of Maggie to see.From the beginning of The Prime Minister's Secret Agent a shroud of depression and exhaustion seems to hang over not only Maggie but the British people. They've been staying strong for so long as bombs (both literal and figurative) have rained down on them, but without an end in sight and without much hope that America will join them in bringing down Hitler, their stiff upper lip seems to be slipping. I hated seeing Maggie so down and unhappy, battling her "black dog" of depression and PTSD for much of the novel. The mystery of why and how her friend became so sick gives her something to do, but not much else really happens to Maggie during the story. More time was given to the real-life American and Japanese people surrounding the bombing of Pearl Harbor, an action that sets up Maggie's journey to America with Churchill in the next installment, than was given to any real development on Maggie's part. This isn't to say that seeing the politics behind the eventual bombing of Pearl Harbor wasn't interesting, it just wasn't what I was expecting or wanting from a Maggie Hope novel. I wanted more Maggie!This being said, there were a lot of interesting elements that kept me turning the pages. We get to learn a little bit about floriography, poisoning and secret British testing with biological warfare. We also get to see Churchill begin to unravel somewhat and see what he's willing to sacrifice to win this war. Best of all, in my opinion, is the storyline dealing with Maggie's mother, Clara - a Nazi spy due to be executed by the British for her crimes - and her multiple personality disorder that might be real and might be just another manipulation by a master manipulator. This element really helped solidify my understanding of Clara's backstory and made her even more interesting than I already found her. And let me just say the cliffhanger at the end of the novel involving Clara has me ready to jump into book number five ASAP!In many ways, The Prime Minister's Secret Agent felt more like a transition between novels than a novel itself. The concentration is more on getting the Americans involved in the war than developing Maggie's character and, while it is still an enjoyable novel, it didn't satisfy my need for the character I've come to love in Maggie. I should also note that anyone new to the series could easily pick this book up and be caught up with previous events within the first few chapters (Susan Elia MacNeal does an exceptional job of weaving the backstory in so you never feel like you're missing something) but I would definitely recommend starting with book one as each book in the series is quite enjoyable. The set up for the next novel in the series sees Maggie ready to travel back to America, not only with Churchill but with her friend David and her old flame John, and I very much look forward to seeing Maggie on her old stomping grounds, to meeting the aunt who raised her and to hopefully seeing some old friends from previous novels that didn't make it into this one. And with the cliffhanger ending I mentioned above, it's shaping up to be quite the adventure!

“The Prime Minister’s Secret Agent” is a wonderful historical novel and it’s part of the excellent Maggie Hope series, by Susan Elia MacNeal. In this book, Maggie is teaching at a spy school in Scotland, Elise is in the Tower of London awaiting execution and Sarah comes to town, as a ballet dancer. Soon one of the other dancers is murdered, and Sarah is desperately ill. Maggie uses all of her skills to identify the poison and the murderer, so she can save her friend’s life. But Elise is on her own escaping the the firing squad. In fact, we learn quite a bit about Elise’s past in this novel The war lingers on, but it may soon be over as England reaches the end of its resources. Some of the best parts of this novel happen far from Maggie and her community. The Japanese are plotting an attack on Pearl Harbor; the Americans have broken the Japanese code, but, of course they don’t want the Japanese to know that. In the midst of all this Maggie finds a cat whom she names K (Spies are often known by numbers or initials, so the name is just right for Maggie Hope’s cat.) She decides that despite the dangers and oddities of her work that she will keep the cat. The next book will bring Maggie and K. to America where she will serve as one of Prime Minister Churchill’s secret agents. She has worked for Churchill before, so he knows her strengths. Sarah is headed to Paris where she too will work as a secret agent.

Historical details excellent. Story line and characters well developed. It's the type of book that you just want to read on and not put down till u've finished it.

I really enjoyed all the books in the Maggie Hope series. I was sorry when I finished the last one as the characters had started to feel like old friends

Trama muy simple. Promete mas de lo que en realidad finalmente es. Hace muchas referencias a libros anteriores. No lo recomiendo

Enjoyment!

What an interesting and at times moving, frustrating, endearing way to delve back into history. It is good to read these books in order to see the development of the character/s.You do start to care about Maggie and her friends, which is a big plus for me whenever I discover a new series. Being an American living in the UK makes me want to cheer Maggie, who was raised in America, on and I even manage to understand the Brits frustration with it taking us so long to join in!! Looking forward to her adventures with Mrs Roosevelt in the next book and seeing things from that perspective!!!