Book Description | 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 imagined-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 family's hidden secrets, she'll discover that her quick wits are all that stand between an assassin's murderous plan and Churchill himself. In this thrilling 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 beautifully crafted mystery. |
Editorial Review | Waging war is not women’s work – or so Maggie Hope is told – but she soon finds that there are many ways to fight a battle. Living in London at the start of the Second World War, Maggie is deemed unsuitable for intelligence work, but the young American finds favour with Prime Minister Winston Churchill, whose mother was also American, and is gradually drawn into a deadly world of intrigue, espionage and betrayal that even embroils her own family’s hidden past. As the Nazis rampage across Europe, Maggie’s war is fought in secret, unravelling a web of lies at the heart of the British establishment, leading to treachery, murder and an assassination plot that could change history. (Constable Crime logo) Cover design: XXXXXXXXXXXXXX £7.99 |