I’m boycotting the Hallmark Channel and avoiding Christmas shopping to sit down and finally catch up on my weekly posts. It’s been about a month since I last shared with you what I’m reading, and it’s about time we reconnected!
Since Nov. 1 (or was it Halloween?) Christmas movies have occupied most of my free time and the blog has suffered. Last week I received an SOS text from my literary soul mate, who was at the library and in need of something to read. So guys, I’m back and I’m ready to talk books!
My sister-in-law introduced me to Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs‘ mystery series, which is right up my alley with time (1910-30) and setting (England). Many weeks ago I read Mr. Churchill’s Secretary: A Maggie Hope Mystery by Susan Elia MacNeal, which very much reminds me of Maisie: independent, witty, intelligent and also a lady.
It’s May 1940 in London and Nazi invasion is imminent. Maggie Hope is a young American in London, who becomes secretary to Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Sidenote: I always read ‘secretary’ with a British accent. I can’t help it.
Hope finds herself entrenched in a world of spies, secret agents and betrayal of those close to her. But Hope’s intelligence proves she’s more valuable for England’s security than her secretary job title gives her credit for.
If you watched The Bletchley Circle mini drama series on PBS, this is the same story in book form. Readers’s follow Hope as she works to solve plots by breaking codes, while also watching out for her own life.
This Maggie Hope novel has introduced me to a whole new series I’ve added to my ever-growing to-read list.
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