• Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2018 May #1
  Maggie Hope is a well-educated Bostonian transplanted to England during WWII as a code-breaker and, later, as a spy. The series, starting with Mr. Churchill's Secretary in 2012, follows Maggie on special postings, including a couple taking place in Buckingham Palace, that give readers a wealth of historical information amid settings that range from gritty to lavish. This time out, Maggie has been banished to an island off the west coast of Scotland, along with other spies belonging to the behind-enemy-lines Special Operations Executive (SOE) created by Churchill. The imprisoned spies are held in a Victorian monstrosity because they're deemed likely to snap after all the horrors they've witnessed. And snap someone does, methodically killing off SOE agents one by one. The book-accompanying press information says that the plot was inspired by Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, but some may think that the systematic murders using a variety of strange weapons are a little too obvious and suspense-killing, even as a tribute. Nevertheless, this latest Maggie Hope adventure has the resourceful and ever-appealing Maggie and the riveting WWII setting to recommend it. Copyright 2018 Booklist Reviews.

Susan Elia MacNeal is the New York Times bestselling author of the Maggie Hope mysteries. MacNeal won the Barry Award and has been nominated for the Edgar, Macavity, Agatha, Left Coast Crime, Dilys, and ITW Thriller awards. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and son.