Princess Elizabeth's Spy (Maggie Hope, Bk 2)
Author:
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
Book Type: Paperback
Author:
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
Book Type: Paperback
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.
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