Name: Mr. Churchill's Secretary
ISBN: 9780553593617

Susan Elia MacNeal

After German Luftwaffe bomb London, Maggie Hope--trained in math and code breaking, but only able to find a job as Winston Churchill's secretary--uses the unfettered access her position demands to try to unravel a plot to assassinate Churchill himself. A first novel. Original. 12,500 first printing.

A Novel

Mr. Churchill's Secretary

Christine

DNF. 
Didn't draw me in at all.
Forgot to mark this as not reading >_<

Edit: Thinking about it, I changed it to one star. Geez. Just don't.

Sahi K

In the beginning, Maggie is in London after completing her PhD in mathematics in America but can’t find a suitable job coz all of them are for Oxbridge educated upper class men. When she gets offered job as Churchill’s secretary, she accepts it albeit a little reluctantly, because she wants to be a part of the war effort. At the same time, she is also trying to find the details about their parents’ death. She is surrounded by great friends, who all band together when the air raids begin. There is also espionage, surveillance and code breaking here.

I loved Maggie’s character. She is educated, brilliant, confident, brave and a great friend. I loved her friends, especially David who is so loyal and supportive. The mystery here is quite thin, I could guess the assassin about halfway through the book and all conflicts get resolved within a couple of pages. But this book is still fun to read. It is fast paced, has some witty dialogue and on the whole, is quite entertaining. I am going to continue with the series to read more of Maggie’s adventures.

I think that if you are going to do a historical fiction cozy mystery, you maybe shouldn't have it revolve around espionage and intrigue during WWII. I was incredibly excited to see this series and wanted very much to like it. Unfortunately it is bogged down by excessive arguing about politics that may or may not be well represented and a lot of disbelief required for us to enjoy the plot. I also felt like the actual ending surpassed the ending of the plot. The last two chapters were mainly what felt like the beginning of a second book instead of completing the current one.

Another complaint I have is that this perpetuates the idea of a heroine not being complete without needing to be saved at least once in the course of the novel. It just seemed like a silly excuse to advance the forced love interest to move forward 'naturally.

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.

Mr Churchill's Secretary

Chelsea White

I absolutely loved this book and was so glad when I heard from my cousin who recommended it to me that it's part of a series! I read it here and there for a week then yesterday I decided to dedicate myself to this book, and I couldn't put it down! Absolutely thrilling, and brilliantly paced, I was reading with bated breath and wished I could somehow read faster while still retaining the story so I would know what happened next. I definitely gasped in shock when I found out who Claire really was... I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in historical fiction and fast-paced thrilling novels!

Mr. Churchill's Secretary A Novel

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