I found the first novel in this series dull and anachronistic, with over-the-top action near the end, but I hoped that, like much series fiction, char..Show More »acter and storyline might be stronger as the series (and author) developed.

Book 2 has some good historical background, but it's delivered more pedantically. Modern YA exchanges continue among the YA characters - other parts of the the novel are more period authentic -- except for some lapses in scene/dialogue such as when King George is teaching Queen E how to shoot a pistol on the back lawn of Buckingham Palace - with Hitler on the target-- and Churchill wanders up says something like, "Between you and me, we may have won the Battle of Britain, but we can't rule out invasion yet." Some of the more obvious history background (King Edward abdicated to marry Mrs Simpson!) is spelled out in way too much detail - so lovers of period fiction will be bored.

I am a large consumer of 19th and 20th C historical mysteries of all types, but I'll pass on future instalments of this one unless I read some solid reviews first.

It IS a good PG listen, however, and that is worth some praise! And if I were younger I might identify more with the main characters' concerns to get past the novel's weaknesses.

You'll either love or hate the narration: The narrator is obviously talented, but the production choices seem to me questionable. The style is much too theatrical (and vowels not Brit enough) for my ears -- too staged a performance. Wanda MacAdam/Doneda Peters from Book 1 was a better choice to my ears, but like Wanda, my ears are a little old for this novel.

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Susan Elia MacNeal writes a captivating story with a compelling plotline that left me listening without break...terrific audio novel. The brilliant n..Show More »arrator, Susan Duerden, does miracles with all the German and British characters, male and female. What I probably admire most is how sensitively the author handles the Holocaust, in a believable way even if the actual plotline is fictional (but based on truths).

This series is absolutely perfect for listening and I warmly recommend it. For me, each book was better than the last. I am eagerly looking forward to number four.

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