The Queen's Accomplice by Susan Elia MacNeal, a Mysterious Review.

Review: Maggie Hope is back in war-torn London working as a Girl Friday in the Special Operations Executive Offices (SOE) at 64 Baker Street, just down the street from Sherlock Holmes fictional home, when she, together with DCI James Durgin of Scotland Yard, are thrown into an investigation involving the murders of young women coming to London to join the SOE, in The Queen’s Accomplice, the sixth mystery in this series by Susan MacNeal.

The bombing of London has been devastating. Consequently, it is hard to identify the victims by trying to track down missing persons as many may not even realize someone is missing, so no one thinks to notify the police. The murderer has been labelled the “Blackout Beast”. Maggie is tasked with using her special gift of spy craft and mathematical skills to track down this monster—if she can. Meanwhile her half-sister, Elise Hess, who has been held as a prisoner in Ravensbruck , a Nazi concentration camp, has been temporarily released and Maggie is hoping to bring her to London. Elise, however, has other plans. Maggie has another dilemma: she fears that a SOE agent in France has been compromised and even with proof of identity, no one will believe her. And now, two more agents are about to be dropped into France. Separately, Maggie is offered some respite to her work when she is invited by Princess Elizabeth to be a guest for dinner at Buckingham Palace. She is later invited to have tea at Windsor Castle with the Princess and her sister Princess Anne. Maggie certainly has friends in high places when she needs to get away!

As is typical of this series, there is an interweaving of fact and fiction into the story, giving it an air of authenticity. Maggie is a delightful, feisty lady, and a joy to follow. Though the primary mystery is solved, two others are left open, setting the stage for the next in the series. Not to be missed!

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of The Queen's Accomplice.

Acknowledgment: Random House provided a copy of The Queen's Accomplice for this review.

Mrs. Roosevelt's Confidante
Bantam (Trade Paperback), October 2015
ISBN-13: 9780804178709; ISBN-10: 0804178704

The Queen's Accomplice

A Maggie Hope Mystery by Susan Elia MacNeal