• Princess Elizabeth's Spy

  • A Maggie Hope Mystery
  • By: Susan Elia MacNeal
  • Narrated by: Susan Duerden
  • Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (1,314 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Princess Elizabeth's Spy  By  cover art

Princess Elizabeth's Spy

By: Susan Elia MacNeal
Narrated by: Susan Duerden
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $18.00

Buy for $18.00

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Susan Elia MacNeal introduced the remarkable Maggie Hope in her acclaimed debut, Mr. Churchill's Secretary. Now Maggie returns to protect Britain's beloved royals against an international plot - one that could change the course of history.

As World War II sweeps the continent and England steels itself against German attack, Maggie Hope, former secretary to Prime Minister Winston Churchill, completes her training to become a spy for MI-5. Spirited, strong-willed, and possessing one of the sharpest minds in government for mathematics and code-breaking, she fully expects to be sent abroad to gather intelligence for the British front. Instead, to her great disappointment, she is dispatched to go undercover at Windsor Castle, where she will tutor the young Princess Elizabeth in math. Yet castle life quickly proves more dangerous - and deadly - than Maggie ever expected.

The upstairs-downstairs world at Windsor is thrown into disarray by a shocking murder, which draws Maggie into a vast conspiracy that places the entire royal family in peril. And as she races to save England from a most disturbing fate, Maggie realizes that a quick wit is her best defense, and that the smallest clues can unravel the biggest secrets, even within her own family.

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

What listeners say about Princess Elizabeth's Spy

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    610
  • 4 Stars
    403
  • 3 Stars
    190
  • 2 Stars
    66
  • 1 Stars
    45
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    519
  • 4 Stars
    255
  • 3 Stars
    167
  • 2 Stars
    90
  • 1 Stars
    147
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    582
  • 4 Stars
    336
  • 3 Stars
    173
  • 2 Stars
    50
  • 1 Stars
    23

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

So so addition to the Maggie Hope series

I enjoyed reading the first book in the series but gave my copy of the 2nd title away before I finished it. But I had a credit at Audible so I downloaded the audio. I was so disappointed at the narrator. Her American accent is painful to listen to and since the main character is American, it meant a lot of pain! She pitched Maggie’s voice too high, which made her sound childish and whiny. In fact, I sped up the book so I wouldn’t have to suffer through more time with this narrator. I will continue the series by reading it but will make sure I don’t get this narrator ever again.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

I’m not sure what happened to the heroine of the story, but it ruined the whole book for me. She’s supposed to be the smart of the smart and acts like a very dim spoiled brat. She jumps to ridiculous conclusions, shouts and runs out o meetings. Then she switches back for a few minutes to act like a trusted MI5 agent. The only reason I listened to the end was so I could leave a review. Very sad.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Just off the Mark

I have read all the Maisie Dobbs novels. Jacqueline Winspear's writing is for me more sophisticated and her plots more believable.
I find Maggie Hope novels entertaining, but somewhat lacking and a bit beyond belief.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Had high hopes

I really enjoyed the first book and was excited for a new series, but I feel like the main character, so clever in the first book, had changed. Obvious things someone as smart as she is I would have expected her to grab onto and question, but she missed and she just feels more flighty in this book. I guess to further the plot? But it really didn't work for me. I think the narrator was not as good as in the first book, adding a light tone to an already diminished character, but when I listened at a faster speed, this was less obvious.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Unfortunate choice in readers

For a summer-listening spy novel, I don't expect fine art. I just want to be engaged in the characters and entertained by the plot. Unfortunately, a readers can either make or break a mediocre novel. This one broke it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Horrible Narrator!

The story is great, but good luck getting through the reading.

It sounds like it was recorded one sentence at a time. The time between sentences is waaaaay too long. I expect the novel is actually an hour shorter than this recording would lead you to believe.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A good series

The books in this series are quite enjoyable if you can get past the horrible narration. Try increasing the speed, it helped me.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The narrator was a bit irritating.

Ms. Duerden has a beautiful voice but her lyrical way of ending sentences drive me nuts.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Narration ruins it

I listened to the first in the series and loved it. This is a different narrator and she speaks as if everything she is saying is a question which makes it very difficult to follow. I’m two chapters in and already lost not due to the context of the story just simply because I keep losing my thought process trying to understand what she’s talking about. I wish they had use the same near raider that I became comfortable with as the voice of Maggie Hope

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

narration of male British voices annoying

The narrator does a good job with the main character's voice and the voices of the princesses but the male voices are very annoying. Had planned to listening to the whole series but unless the narrator changes I will have to switch to hard copy.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!