Helpful Score: 3
Outstanding book. Very interesting plot and history of war torn UK set in 1940. MacNeal does a great job brining a good understanding of the Royal Family and she in the fictional characters wonderfully. Great surprise on the mystery. Too bad we have to wait until the spring for the next book.
R E K. (bigstone) - , reviewed Princess Elizabeth's Spy (Maggie Hope, Bk 2) on + 1452 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Maggie Hope is a very interesting heroine but I did not feel that this novel was as good as the first. It seemed to drag in the middle for me and I felt that this Maggie was not the Maggie I met in the first novel. She seems to get into trouble without thinking which was unlike what I had recognized earlier in her character. Yes, she is still plucky and determined to succeed even after she flunks out of the physical part of spy school. Pursuing her new assignment in Windsor Castle, she seems almost dense at times and plunges into situations that should be avoided. Yes, she misreads those around her suspecting the wrong people but once the kidnapping is accomplished she figures out what to do and how to follow the kidnappers. Yet how could any two people trained as spies themselves just burst into a cabin knowing that enemy spies must be inside with no backup or fall back plan?
I did like the ending and how others saved Maggie from her foolishness. And, she seems to find a new boyfriend after her pilot beau is missing in action and presumed dead. She discovers slowly what interests her about the new man is how one might expect after discovering that the one she loved is probably gone forever. Also enjoyed the young Elizabeth portrayed by the author as an enthusiastic and brave young woman. It's a 3.5 star read for me so I'll probably read the next in the series. My suggestion is to read the first novel and then this one and discover Maggie Hope for yourself.
I did like the ending and how others saved Maggie from her foolishness. And, she seems to find a new boyfriend after her pilot beau is missing in action and presumed dead. She discovers slowly what interests her about the new man is how one might expect after discovering that the one she loved is probably gone forever. Also enjoyed the young Elizabeth portrayed by the author as an enthusiastic and brave young woman. It's a 3.5 star read for me so I'll probably read the next in the series. My suggestion is to read the first novel and then this one and discover Maggie Hope for yourself.
I'm enjoying this series, but I liked the first book slightly better than the second. Maggie is a strong, intelligent young lady and the setting at Windsor Castle with the dungeons used for air raid shelters and all the tunnels are very interesting. The ending is a surprise, and the next book looks fascinating.
Cathy C. (cathyskye) -
First Line: The midday summer sun in Lisbon was dazzling and harsh.
Adolph Hitler is determined to conquer England, and a plot is set in motion to get King George VI and his family out of the way so the much more amenable Duke and Duchess of Windsor can assume the throne. In the mean time Maggie Hope, recently promoted to MI-5 from Winston Churchill's secretarial pool, has washed out of the physical part of her training in Scotland. Sent back to London, she is dismayed when she learns that she's to go to Windsor Castle to be the math tutor to fourteen-year-old Princess Elizabeth-- until she's told of both the plot and the fact that the young royal's life may very well be in danger.
Her first day in Windsor Castle doesn't bode well. The place is war-time austere with many of its furnishings and treasures packed away for safekeeping. The castle is huge, cold, damp and drafty with endless corridors that make getting lost easy. When Maggie finally finds the dining room that evening, she's given a dressing-down because she isn't properly attired, and the ladies-in-waiting who have the rooms closest to hers are a gossiping, judgmental lot.
Fortunately the princesses are much easier to deal with, and Maggie does find a person or two with whom to become friends. She's going to need all the help she can get because hardly any time passes at all before it's very clear that someone does mean the royal family harm. Maggie needs every bit of her quick wits to protect her young charge.
I really enjoyed the first Maggie Hope mystery, Mr. Churchill's Secretary, but this second book in the series grabbed me by the eyeglasses and wouldn't let me go until I'd turned the last page. Maggie still has her math smarts and quick mind for codes as well as her spirit. When standing her ground with her MI-5 superior or giving the dragon in the Windsor Castle dining room a piece of her mind or even when she tells her new handler what a waste of space he is, it's hard not to cheer aloud for a young woman who refuses to be treated as anything less than an equal.
It was just as much fun to read about Maggie and her interactions with the young princesses: Margaret theatrical and a typical younger sister, and Elizabeth, serious and conscious of her future role in life, yet still a teenager writing letters to a certain young man serving in the Royal Navy-- Prince Philip of Greece.
MacNeal has the knack of using real-life people as characters in her books and making them every bit as interesting as her fictional characters. There's nothing wooden or dusty or historical about Churchill or King George or the young princesses. Touring the corridors and dungeons of Windsor Castle is a treat, and so is seeing the ancient residence decked out for Christmas, but the best part of the book is the ending. Not everything about it is completely plausible, but it's so much fun that I don't really care. I refuse to say anything more except that I'd love to have Queen Elizabeth read Princess Elizabeth's Spy and let us know her thoughts about it!
The last chapter of the book sets up the third book in this series perfectly, and I can't wait until it's published. Maggie Hope has shown herself to be one smart woman. When told she's a washout on the physical part of her training, she incorporates running and other strengthening exercises into her daily routine. However, she is a young woman, and-- unless it has something to do with codes and cyphers-- she tends to think with her heart instead of her head. Will she have learned anything after protecting Princess Elizabeth? Only time (and the next book) will tell!
Adolph Hitler is determined to conquer England, and a plot is set in motion to get King George VI and his family out of the way so the much more amenable Duke and Duchess of Windsor can assume the throne. In the mean time Maggie Hope, recently promoted to MI-5 from Winston Churchill's secretarial pool, has washed out of the physical part of her training in Scotland. Sent back to London, she is dismayed when she learns that she's to go to Windsor Castle to be the math tutor to fourteen-year-old Princess Elizabeth-- until she's told of both the plot and the fact that the young royal's life may very well be in danger.
Her first day in Windsor Castle doesn't bode well. The place is war-time austere with many of its furnishings and treasures packed away for safekeeping. The castle is huge, cold, damp and drafty with endless corridors that make getting lost easy. When Maggie finally finds the dining room that evening, she's given a dressing-down because she isn't properly attired, and the ladies-in-waiting who have the rooms closest to hers are a gossiping, judgmental lot.
Fortunately the princesses are much easier to deal with, and Maggie does find a person or two with whom to become friends. She's going to need all the help she can get because hardly any time passes at all before it's very clear that someone does mean the royal family harm. Maggie needs every bit of her quick wits to protect her young charge.
I really enjoyed the first Maggie Hope mystery, Mr. Churchill's Secretary, but this second book in the series grabbed me by the eyeglasses and wouldn't let me go until I'd turned the last page. Maggie still has her math smarts and quick mind for codes as well as her spirit. When standing her ground with her MI-5 superior or giving the dragon in the Windsor Castle dining room a piece of her mind or even when she tells her new handler what a waste of space he is, it's hard not to cheer aloud for a young woman who refuses to be treated as anything less than an equal.
It was just as much fun to read about Maggie and her interactions with the young princesses: Margaret theatrical and a typical younger sister, and Elizabeth, serious and conscious of her future role in life, yet still a teenager writing letters to a certain young man serving in the Royal Navy-- Prince Philip of Greece.
MacNeal has the knack of using real-life people as characters in her books and making them every bit as interesting as her fictional characters. There's nothing wooden or dusty or historical about Churchill or King George or the young princesses. Touring the corridors and dungeons of Windsor Castle is a treat, and so is seeing the ancient residence decked out for Christmas, but the best part of the book is the ending. Not everything about it is completely plausible, but it's so much fun that I don't really care. I refuse to say anything more except that I'd love to have Queen Elizabeth read Princess Elizabeth's Spy and let us know her thoughts about it!
The last chapter of the book sets up the third book in this series perfectly, and I can't wait until it's published. Maggie Hope has shown herself to be one smart woman. When told she's a washout on the physical part of her training, she incorporates running and other strengthening exercises into her daily routine. However, she is a young woman, and-- unless it has something to do with codes and cyphers-- she tends to think with her heart instead of her head. Will she have learned anything after protecting Princess Elizabeth? Only time (and the next book) will tell!
Thomas F. (hardtack) -
The main character is a strong-willed woman and I enjoy her responses to men with a sex-bias. I also enjoy her interaction with the code-breakers and British spies. These are two of my favorite areas of reading on WW II.
However, there are numerous problems with the book that left me wondering how an author could "supposedly" do so much research, as she discusses after the last chapter, but make a number of astonishing mistakes.
One was stating Maggie's beau was shot down in a Spitfire over Berlin. Sorry, but Spitfires didn't have the range that early in the war (no disposable wing tanks yet) to make it all the way from Britain to Berlin. Later, we find out he was dropping bombs. Well, that would make him a bomber pilot, not a fighter pilot. Obviously, the author doesn't understand the difference. Just one more item which makes me think the author does very little historical research.
ALERT: some possible SPOILERs here.
Next, even after reading the text regarding the destruction of the German submarine three times, I'm still not sure what or how it happened. Seems like the author didn't either. Or how three people could leave one compartment of a submarine and make it to a hatch out of the vessel without stumbling over German sailors. Come on! These subs weren't huge aircraft carriers with multiple passageways. My readings on submarine warfare always emphasize the crowded conditions on these vessels.
Earlier, when Princess Elizabeth is being taken out of the palace, she stops to scratch a long numerical code on stones to tell Maggie where she is being taken. Meanwhile the kidnapper just accepts her explanation she is just working on her math 'homework.' Excuse me? Nazi kidnappers pull off the impossible in the heart of England and then fall for this? What next? "We're going to kill you Princess." "No, not now please. I have to finish my English essay for class tomorrow!"
There was also some poor editing in the book, for example, two different years mentioned in the same paragraph for one event; and some rushed time sequences, i.e., too much happening in a day. The latter made it seem like all these important people, with a war to fight, were just standing about in the wings waiting for their cue.
However, there are numerous problems with the book that left me wondering how an author could "supposedly" do so much research, as she discusses after the last chapter, but make a number of astonishing mistakes.
One was stating Maggie's beau was shot down in a Spitfire over Berlin. Sorry, but Spitfires didn't have the range that early in the war (no disposable wing tanks yet) to make it all the way from Britain to Berlin. Later, we find out he was dropping bombs. Well, that would make him a bomber pilot, not a fighter pilot. Obviously, the author doesn't understand the difference. Just one more item which makes me think the author does very little historical research.
ALERT: some possible SPOILERs here.
Next, even after reading the text regarding the destruction of the German submarine three times, I'm still not sure what or how it happened. Seems like the author didn't either. Or how three people could leave one compartment of a submarine and make it to a hatch out of the vessel without stumbling over German sailors. Come on! These subs weren't huge aircraft carriers with multiple passageways. My readings on submarine warfare always emphasize the crowded conditions on these vessels.
Earlier, when Princess Elizabeth is being taken out of the palace, she stops to scratch a long numerical code on stones to tell Maggie where she is being taken. Meanwhile the kidnapper just accepts her explanation she is just working on her math 'homework.' Excuse me? Nazi kidnappers pull off the impossible in the heart of England and then fall for this? What next? "We're going to kill you Princess." "No, not now please. I have to finish my English essay for class tomorrow!"
There was also some poor editing in the book, for example, two different years mentioned in the same paragraph for one event; and some rushed time sequences, i.e., too much happening in a day. The latter made it seem like all these important people, with a war to fight, were just standing about in the wings waiting for their cue.
Linda R. (wolfie123) - , reviewed Princess Elizabeth's Spy (Maggie Hope, Bk 2) on + 421 more book reviews
Love this series....in this addition, Maggie is sent to Windsor Castle to teach the two princesses math....In actuality, she is going undercover to watch over the girls to foil any attempt to kidnap the next queen of England...Maggie must watch for any clue as to who might be a Nazi spy among them at the castle.....deaths follow as does an attempt on the life of the king...looking forward to the next book in the series, as there are several surprising twists in this one!
As World War II sweeps the continent and England steels itself against German attack, Maggie Hope completes her training to become a spy for MI-5. Spirited, strong-willed, and possessing one of the sharpest minds in government for mathematics and code-breaking, she fully expects to be sent abroad to gather intelligence for the British front. Instead, to her great disappointment, she is dispatched to go undercover at Windsor Castle, where she will tutor the young Princess Elizabeth in math. The upstairs-downstairs world at Windsor is thrown into disarray by a shocking murder. Maggie realizes that the smallest clues can unravel the biggest secrets, even within her own family.
