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

Love the story and the writing,

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I love the story and the writing, do not at all like the narrator. Much prefer the narrator for the first book and wish they would bring her back.

Good story

I liked the plot line, and I continue to enjoy the character development. I did not care for this narrator, though. I preferred Donada Pierce's voice talent more. This narrator was too high pitched of a voice for my taste.

Story ruined by narrator.

Having thoroughly enjoyed the first book in this series, Mr. Churchhill's Secretary, I was anxious to listen to this second book in the series. However, the narrator has been changed from the excellent Donada Peters to Susan Duerdon who's annoying upward turn at the end of every sentence ruins the story from the beginning. Her artificial inflection made listening to the story itself impossible. I will not finish this book or continue with the series with her narration. A very poor decision by the author to change narrators. Such a shame.

Narrator's odd cadence made it hard

I liked the story but I barely made it through till the end -- the narrator has a really unnatural cadence that set my teeth on edge. I hope the next book in the series is read by someone different!

Engaging

After enjoying "Mr. Churchill's Secretary", we looked forward to this 2nd book in the series. It is a wonderful story, moving briskly and giving insights to the characters and events of WWII. Our one disappointment was the narration. We might have been satisfied with Susan Duerden as narrator if we had not become accustomed to the superior narration of Wanda McCaddon in the earlier book. "Princess Elizabeth's Spy" ends in a real cliffhanger situation and we are anxious for the release of Book 3.

Good thing it's a good story...

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I'm intrigued by the time period, and the personalities in World War II. Although this is fiction, the characters of young Princess Elizabeth and her parents, the king and queen, and Winston Churchill contain enough of what is known to be true to keep the story interesting.

What did you like best about this story?

The plot is believable, and the play between MI5 and MI6 together with basic spycraft make the story fun.

How could the performance have been better?

If it were not for the strength of the story, I would have deleted this after the first 15 minutes. The narrator speaks in a sing-songy voice that about drives me nuts. At one point I nearly decided to stop listening and buy the book. I bought the entire series, and hope that there is an improvement in the subsequent audios.

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

The interaction between Molly and the young princesses is touching.

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.

The narrator was a bit irritating.

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

not as good as the first

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

yes it was quite interesting

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

what I expected

How did the narrator detract from the book?

I did not like the narrator I found her voice very tiresome

Was Princess Elizabeth's Spy worth the listening time?

yes

Spies at Windsor Castle

This is book two in the Maggie Hope series. Maggie is removed from the MI5 training school after failing the physical endurance part of the program and is returned to London for reassignment. The story provides an example of failure at one thing and turning around and succeeding at another. She is sent off to be a math tutor to Princess Elizabeth while trying to find a possible spy in the castle. The story has stayed true to history but also has allowed the author freedom of her imagination in creating a fictional story. The story provides suspense, humor, a bit of Holmes deduction, code breaking and a chase scene, all this provided in a nice PG environment. The narrator Susan Duerden did not come up to the standard of the narrator of the first book Wanda McDadden. I do hope they return to McCadden in the next book. This book would make a great gift for a young person or for the whole family.