Susan Elia MacNeal

After a possible suicide enlivens her tenure as the tutor for princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, MI-5 prospect Maggie Hope uncovers a conspiracy to take out Enigma, England's critical code-breaking machine during World War II. Original.

Princess Elizabeth's Spy

Lane Hokanson

I will admit that I mistakenly started this series on the second book instead of the first, but I’m not sure it would change my opinion. This book was just…fine. The setting and dialogue made it feel like a fun and vintage read, but the characters and plot were flat and predictable. I felt only truly interested in the last few chapters, in the peak of the storyline, but that was a solid 300+ pages deep. I’d recommend skipping this one unless it’s the only book you have access to on a plane or at the beach.

Sahi K

After reading three books in this series, I have to confess they have become a sort of guilty pleasure. They are fast paced, adventurous, can be completed in a single sitting and make me like Maggie more. She is so feisty, courageous and intelligent. I love how gives back to anyone who thinks she is just a beauty without brains. In this book too, she goes undercover as a tutor to Princess Elizabeth at Windsor Castle, initially apprehensive because she thinks her talent isn’t being utilized; but readily agrees when made aware of the dangers lurking around the Royal family. As always, wherever she goes, murder follows. Now, it’s upon her to find out the truth and uncover the conspiracy. In between all this, she is also teaching the Princess to make codes, preparing for a performance of the Sleeping Beauty by the Princesses and finding out damaging information about her own family. She is also very upset because John is missing, presumed dead but she will not let it prevent her duties. She and her new beau Hugh show great bravery to prevent the catastrophe at the end and it was really thrilling till the end.

This book had some great dialogue which I loved – Maggie describes Schrodinger’s Cat and Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem to her friends who don’t understand a word – it just shows her level of intellect. It’s good to read about a female protagonist’s smarts rather than her beauty. I also loved a couple of references to Holmes; especially the new spy organization being called Baker Street Irregulars. On the whole, this is a fun read and has renewed my interest in reading the next books of the series.

Chelsea White

The second book in the Maggie Hope series did not disappoint. And, given the twists and turns of the first installation I kept trying to guess who was plotting against Princess Elizabeth during the book, and managed to get two of them right ;) Again, it took a little to get the main plot going, but once it did WHEW I couldn't put it down. I ended up reading two and a half hours last night until I finished the book because I couldn't put it down, even though it was almost 1 am.. Whoops. I don't want to give anything away, so I'll refrain from writing more. I am interested to see how the Maggie-Hugh-John thing works out though, so excuse me while I quickly read my two other library books out so I can get to the third book!

Princess Elizabeth's Spy

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