Maggie Hope

Susan Elia MacNeal: The Last Hope

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Maggie Hope #11

I’ve been a full on fan of this series from the publication of Mr. Churchill’s Secretary (2012).  MacNeal’s combination of adventure story, history and a vivid and intrepid heroine in the form of Maggie Hope has been irresistible. Maggie, an American who came to Britain during the war and snagged a job in Churchill’s office, finds herself coming full circle: in the first novel she found an assassin, in this last novel, she’s asked to be an assassin.

Many things have happened to Maggie over the course of this long war, and she’s now a full on member of the SOE – Special Operations Executive – Churchill’s squad of espionage agents, of whom more than 3,000 were women.  Their work involved going into occupied Europe and working undercover.  The SOE was formed in 1940, and it was dissolved in ’46, so as this series draws to a close, so does the war and the SOE itself.  It’s a fitting arc for this wonderful character. read more

Guest essay: Susan Elia MacNeal on The Hollywood Spy

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Today I’m really pleased to welcome Susan Elia MacNeal, author of the beloved Maggie Hope series.  Best news for readers – the new addition to this great series, The Hollywood Spy, will be published on July 6.  Susan agreed to give readers an advance look at what promises to be another great read.  You can pre-order it here.

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Lassie Who? Meet Tallulah, the newest star of The Hollywood Spy.

 The Hollywood Spy has a wide range of characters—there’s Maggie Hope, of course, and her ballerina friend Sarah Sanderson, who’s in Los Angeles to dance in the film, Star Spangled Canteen. There’s Maggie’s former fiancé, John Sterling, a wounded RAF pilot now working for Walt Disney. And there are cameos from historic figures—Cab Calloway, Howard Hughes, Walt Disney, and Lena Horne, among others. read more

Susan Elia MacNeal: The King’s Justice

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This title will be available February 25, 2020.

As I was writing my review, instead of adding “Susan Elia MacNeal” as the author, I almost typed “Maggie Hope,” so indelible and real has this character become.  Maggie, the red haired spitfire who began the first book as Churchill’s secretary, has now left the SOE (Secret Executive Organization) after being sequestered on a Scottish island (see The Prisoner in the Castle).  It’s now 1943 and she’s defusing bombs for the war effort. read more