Princess Elizabeth's Spy

A Maggie Hope Mystery

By: Susan Elia MacNeal

Narrated by: Susan Duerden

Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins

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

Great story, have to ignore the narrator a bit

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The narrator does fine when "in character" however when nobody is "talking" she is awful
Trying to make turning on taps suspenseful coming across as stuff and unemotional instead!

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Susan Duerden?

Bring back Wanda McCaddon

good period thriller

I enjoyed both of these witty novels featuring Maggie Hope--a combination of social and political commentary and thriller (of the less intense sort) set in England at the start of WWII. This second book, however, is marred by the quality of the reading. I hate to say anything negative about someone who did such an admirable job in many ways, particularly her use of different voices for various characters, but her sing-songy cadence sentence by sentence was so distracting that at times I found it hard to listen. I persevered and I'm glad I did,but unless Duerden can overcome this very unhelpful vocal tic, I can't recommend books read by her.

Enjoyable historical fiction.

Would you consider the audio edition of Princess Elizabeth's Spy to be better than the print version?

Audio edition accomplished ambiance greater than print version.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The main character, Hope.

What about Susan Duerden’s performance did you like?

She carried the story with a fantastic voice and suitable accent.

This a EXACTLY THE SAME PLOT as the Alias series !

All originality went out the window when I recognize the plot as being from one of my favorite TV shows, Alias that was popular a few years ago.

oh my God the narrator. Up speak at the end of every sentence makes me want to scream!!

Loved the story

Would you consider the audio edition of Princess Elizabeth's Spy to be better than the print version?

I loved this story. It is well written and entertaining. I have to say I the print version is better in this case.

What did you like best about this story?

I like learning some of the details of Windsor Castle

What didn’t you like about Susan Duerden’s performance?

I love audio books. I adore it when someone reads to me. I have a very long commute daily and this allows me to enjoy reading. But this narrator has a habit of 'whispering' dialog when the character whisper. I am hearing impaired and could not understand her. So I missed a good bit of the story. And some of her accents were difficult to catch. I really prefer when they read the story and dramatize it.

great story

enjoyed the storyline and historical approach. Maggie's and Eliabeths voice can get shrill and annoying. Press on it does get better.

The Narrator's cadence is very annoying

Would you consider the audio edition of Princess Elizabeth's Spy to be better than the print version?

Haven't read the print version, so I couldn't say whether the audio version is better. I like to listen to books during my commute, and the books I buy to listen to are very different from the ebooks I chose to read. I like to listen to books that have an historical context and describe the surroundings in detail. The Maggie Hope series keeps me entertained during rush hour driving. Never mind a long commute if I'm listening to a good book.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Princess Elizabeth's Spy?

I love books set in a different time period. I like getting a feel for how it was 'back then'.

What didn’t you like about Susan Duerden’s performance?

Really disliked the way Susan Duerden reads the narrative. It's the same cadence for every sentence. Each sentence ends on the same note. It is so annoying that once during a long narrative, I had to shut it off. Does a great job on the voices, however. You can always tell when it's a different person talking.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Can't say that I was moved, but at times I was annoyed by the main character's behavior. She's supposed to be a spy, but has very volatile outburst to her handler and boss. Rather than using a logical argument, she's screaming and having a tantrum. Is that supposed to be an 'American' trait? British reserve seems to have gone missing.

Take this along!

Great story to just sit back and enjoy with a cup of tea or to help you get through the mundane chores as you get wrapped up in a good mystery set in the time of WWII. The most well known characters of the time seem to spring into life as our girl sets about protecting the Princesses and solving mysteries.

The ONLY reason this does not get a 5 star rating is because of the performance. Susan Duerden's pattern of going up on so many lines caused me great audio annoyance all the way to the end. If you can adjust to that, you are end for a 5 star ride! (Even if you can't, you will have to listen, it's that good.)

Princess Elizabeth Spy

Queen Elizabeth as a 14 yr old girl during WW II as heroine in her story. With aid off mi5 agent Maggie Hope placed in Westminster as a math teacher to princess.

Interesting story ruined by poor narrator

The Maggie Hope books are an interesting cross between the genres of murder mystery and spy/action-adventure novels. Maggie, the main character, is a British citizen raised in the United States. She is a not-entirely-credible mix of very naive young woman and a person with a very high I.Q., especially when it comes to "maths" (as the Brits refer to mathematics). The novels' main appeal for me is that Maggie's work has her interacting with some of the main figures in Britain during WWII-- in this case, she's assigned to Windsor Castle to protect young princess Elizabeth. This allows the story to feature an array of people dealing with the challenges and dangers of wartime, from Winston Churchill and the royal family to governesses, maids, and the castle's resident falconer. Towards the end, the story becomes quite suspenseful and exciting-- well done.

But, as other readers have noted, the narrator is not a good choice. She reads the dialogue fairly well, but the rest-- the sentences describing scenes and actions-- is read with odd cadences, each sentence sounding the same as the last and the next. I'd like to read more of the series, but don't think I could listen to another book read by this narrator.