Mr. Churchill's Secretary

A Maggie Hope Mystery

By: Susan Elia MacNeal

Narrated by: Donada Peters

Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

BARRY AWARD WINNER • Heralding the arrival of a brilliant new heroine, Mr. Churchill’s Secretary captures the drama of an era of unprecedented challenge—and the greatness that rose to meet it.

“With any luck, the adventures of red-haired super-sleuth Maggie Hope will go on forever. . . . Taut, well-plotted, and suspenseful, this is a wartime mystery to sink your teeth into.” —Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Rose Code

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 daring 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 spectacularly crafted novel.

©2012 Susan Elia Macneal (P)2012 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“This wonderful debut is intelligent, richly detailed, and filled with suspense.” (Stefanie Pintoff)

“A terrific read.... Chock full of fascinating period details and real people including Winston Churchill, MacNeal’s fast-paced thriller gives a glimpse of the struggles, tensions, and dangers of life on the home front during World War II.” (Rhys Bowen, author of Royal Blood and winner of the Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity awards)

“Think early Ken Follett, amp it up with a whip-smart young American not averse to red lipstick and vintage cocktails, season it with espionage during the London Blitz, and you’ve got a heart-pounding, atmospheric debut. I loved it.” (Cara Black, author of Murder in Passy)

More Nancy Drew than Maisie Dobbs

I was disappointed. I had hoped for a complex mystery series comparable to the Maisie Dobbs series. While the reader did a good job, the story was too predictable to keep my attention. I will have to keep looking.

Well done

Entertaining, interesting, a mystery and captures the feeling of London during the blitz. Four stars only because, for some reason, they Americanized the story and refer to dollars, Marines protecting the PM. Otherwise a very entertaining and engrossing story.

Brits pretending to be American

while the book itself was fun, the plot was clunky at times. more than anything what was extremely interesting was the narrator who could not nail down an American accent for the life of her.

Charming historical mystery

Enjoyed this book immensely and immediately recommended it to my mom. Perfect audiobook--just enough suspense.

Great storytelling and AWESOME narration.

I love the historical fiction genre, and Susan Elia MacNeal's storytelling is excellent! She infuses a lot of details about both fictional and real characters (Churchill and his wife). The dialogue feels realistic.

This is the first time I've heard anything by Donada Peters, but I'll definitely seek more out from her! Imagine my disappointment when I realized that the subsequent books in the Maggie Hope series are read by Susan Duerdan, aka the boring-est and droning-est narrator ever! (I had to invent 2 new words since I couldn't find any others to express how bad she truly is.) SUCH A SHAME!

If I manage to procure paperbacks of the rest of the Maggie Hope books, I'll definitely read them, but will absolutely NOT be listening to Susan Duerdan read them on Audible unless I feel like punishing myself.

It wasn't as good as I had hoped

The narration wasn't my favorite, and I think that affected the story for me. There were so many characters to keep track of (which made the story feel complicated), and the accents were all over the place. I likely won't listen to the rest of the series.

Exciting-great fun

What made the experience of listening to Mr. Churchill's Secretary the most enjoyable?

felt authentic- war time story

What other book might you compare Mr. Churchill's Secretary to and why?

I have the first 3 in the Maggie Hope series and they are all connected so far. Looking forward to number4

Which scene was your favorite?

The descriptions of London bombing and terrorism were very vivid

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

no -too long I drive for a few hours max

Great War drama

Well done! A few surprises and great narration. I was missing Maizie Dobbs but I have found another heroine to share her space in my library. All in all, great entertainment.

Choppy nothing on the front end and then resolved abruptly

Some of the descriptive text was tedious and so repetitive
I feel I should give the series a try - but the improbability of this particular story has shaken me!

Wonderfull written and read!

I absolutely loved listening to this narrator read this book. It was wonderfully written and read. Wanda McCaddon excellently switched from character to character without over doing any of it. Her accents were perfect, her male voices believable.

Susan MacNeal wrote a wonderful story, truly making me feel like I was in London during WWII. Her descriptions were full but not flowery nor tedious. She made me feel like I was friends with Maggie and David.

I cannot wait to read more by MacNeal and would listen to anything read by McCaddon.