My Series-ous Reading is holding onto His Majesty’s Hope

One of the reasons that I started this whole Series-ous Reading feature in the first place was to catch up on some of my TBR piles and get further acquainted with certain authors and their work.

Well, so far every time I’ve read on of Susan Elia MacNeal’s entries in her Maggie Hope Mystery series, such as my recent SR pick His Majesty’s Hope, my desire to read more increases abundantly.

Maggie Hope is a newly recruited British spy during the dark days of WWII and at last, she’s been given her first overseas assignment. She is secretly airdropped into Germany to be meet up with a member of the resistance movement for two reasons: deliver a pair of radio crystals and plant a listening device in the home of a prominent German agent.

For the latter, Maggie needs the help of her contact Gottlieb Lerner, who is less than thrilled about working with a rookie but is able to pass her off as his girlfriend to gain entrance to the home of Clara Hess, former star singer and vicious enemy agent.

While Clara’s connection to Maggie is more intimate than she’d like, that doesn’t stop her from carrying out her assignment or making plans to stay longer in Germany once a prime opportunity to spy on a major Nazi party figure is ripe for the plucking.

Lerner insists that she stick to the original plan but Maggie is determined to take this risk with or without him. When that initial opportunity doesn’t work out, another one is presented to her that leads to some horrifying discoveries about the ultimate goals of the current Reich.

Nevertheless, Maggie is able to get what she needs while avoiding the advances of the man she’s working for who has no idea of her true agenda and plans to escape before being found out by Clara Hess and company:

Little does Maggie know that there is a secret ally in her midst.

Elise Hess, Clara’s daughter whose nursing work leads her to work with the resistance, is helping to hide two people in her family’s attic from being captured by the Nazis. 

When Maggie is in need of refuge herself, Elise is ready to assist her along with the 

men hidden away right underneath the watchful eye of her devious mother. Despite how solid their plan is, can Maggie and her new friends get to safety before it’s too late?

Reading one of these Maggie Hope novels is like binge watching a great season of smartly written TV. There are plenty of solid supporting characters given full story arcs and nuance within these well paced pages and Maggie is such a steadfast yet mortal heroine that you would follow anywhere.

I plan to read a couple more books in this series later this year and yes, the wait will be worth it. Having the Maggie Hope novels almost makes up for the loss of the Agent Carter series (almost! Marvel, come on, right this wrong there!):

Speaking of books to catch up with, my new selection in this Sisterhood of Sleuthing is Queen of Hearts by Rhys Bowen.

This eighth entry in the Her Royal Spyness series has hapless noblewoman Georgiana Rannoch being whisked off to 1930s America with Claire, her diva mother, who is in pursuit of a quickie divorce in Reno. 

During their ocean voyage, Claire is offered an audition in Hollywood so a side trip is made that leads to yet another murder for Georgiana to solve.

I do love the screwball comedy energy of these books with their special guest star appearances from famous fans like Coco Chanel, Noel Coward and Wallis Simpson. This time around promises to throw Charlie Chaplin into the mix , which should be amusing in more ways than one: