Mrs. Roosevelt's Confidante (Maggie Hope Series #5)

by Susan Elia MacNeal Narrated by Susan Duerden

Overview

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ¿*In this riveting mystery from*Susan Elia MacNeal, England's most daring spy, Maggie Hope, travels across the pond to America, where a looming scandal poses a grave threat to the White House and the Allied cause.

December 1941. Soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Winston Churchill arrives in Washington, D.C., along with special agent Maggie Hope. Posing as his typist, she is accompanying the prime minister as he meets with President Roosevelt to negotiate the United States' entry into World War II. When one of the First Lady's aides is mysteriously murdered, Maggie is quickly drawn into Mrs. Roosevelt's inner circle-as ER herself is implicated in the crime. Maggie knows she must keep the investigation quiet, so she employs her unparalleled skills at code breaking and espionage to figure out who would target Mrs. Roosevelt, and why. What Maggie uncovers is a shocking conspiracy that could jeopardize American support for the war and leave the fate of the world hanging dangerously in the balance.

Praise for Mrs. Roosevelt's Confidante
*
“MacNeal paints an engrossing portrait of a country on the verge of war, with many laws suspended and prejudice rife-a world not that much different from today.”-Kirkus Reviews
*
“MacNeal's fifth Maggie Hope mystery is another solidly researched entry with the indomitable Maggie in top form.”-Booklist
*
“Another winner filled both with fact and marvelous fiction . . . Maggie is a wonderful character with the strength and determination, as well as intelligence, to make her a resourceful spy.”-RT Book Reviews
*
“MacNeal's images and characters are true to the time, and the resonance of several of the subplots with current events deepen the impact of the tale; MacNeal is to be commended for her skillful weaving of racial and gender issues into an already complex political picture. . . . There's a tremendous amount of world and U.S. history in this delightful volume.”-Historical Novels Review
*
“Addictive . . . [MacNeal] paints convincing portraitures of the Roosevelts and other real-life historical figures. . . . The author continues to tackle heady issues while giving us a beloved heroine to root for. Wrought with peril and tension and extraordinarily rich in detail and research, Hope's latest adventure will not disappoint fans of the series.”-Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star

Praise for the bestselling Maggie Hope mysteries

“You'll be [Maggie Hope's] loyal subject, ready to follow her wherever she goes.”-O: The Oprah Magazine

“[A] stellar series.”-Minneapolis Star Tribune

“A treat for WWII buffs and mystery lovers alike.”-Booklist

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

09/07/2015
MacNeal’s enthralling fifth Maggie Hope mystery (after The Prime Minister’s Secret Agent) takes the American-born British spy to Washington, D.C., in the company of Winston Churchill, posing as his typist, for a meeting with F.D.R. just after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. When Eleanor Roosevelt’s temporary secretary, Blanche Balfour, fails to show up for work, Maggie winds up accompanying the First Lady to Blanche’s apartment, where they discover her body and a note implicating Eleanor Roosevelt herself as the reason for her (apparent) suicide. Not only does Maggie try to prevent a scandal that has implications for the presidency and the war, she also assists in the First Lady’s efforts to help Wendell Cotton, a poor African-American sentenced to die by an all-white Virginia jury. While Maggie is the star, MacNeal gives ample space to the political maneuverings of Roosevelt and Churchill. Cameo appearances by such historical figures as Martha Gellhorn, C.S. Forester, and Walt Disney add to the fun. Agent: Victoria Skurnick, Levine Greenberg Literary. (Nov.)

From the Publisher

Praise for Mrs. Roosevelt’s Confidante
 
“[Susan Elia] MacNeal paints an engrossing portrait of a country on the verge of war, with many laws suspended and prejudice rife—a world not that much different from today.”—Kirkus Reviews
 
“MacNeal’s fifth Maggie Hope mystery is another solidly researched entry with the indomitable Maggie in top form.”—Booklist
 
“Another winner filled both with fact and marvelous fiction . . . Maggie is a wonderful character with the strength and determination, as well as intelligence, to make her a resourceful spy.”—RT Book Reviews
 
“MacNeal’s images and characters are true to the time, and the resonance of several of the subplots with current events deepen the impact of the tale; MacNeal is to be commended for her skillful weaving of racial and gender issues into an already complex political picture. . . . There’s a tremendous amount of world and U.S. history in this delightful volume.”—Historical Novels Review
 
“Addictive . . . [MacNeal] paints convincing portraitures of the Roosevelts and other real-life historical figures. . . . The author continues to tackle heady issues while giving us a beloved heroine to root for. Wrought with peril and tension and extraordinarily rich in detail and research, Hope’s latest adventure will not disappoint fans of the series.”—Fredericksburg Free Lance–Star

Praise for the bestselling Maggie Hope mysteries

“You’ll be [Maggie Hope’s] loyal subject, ready to follow her wherever she goes.”—O: The Oprah Magazine

“[A] stellar series.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune

“A treat for WWII buffs and mystery lovers alike.”—Booklist

Kirkus Reviews

2015-07-28
In 1941, Christmas offers hope for a beleaguered Great Britain but no peace for an English spy. Now that Japan has attacked the U.S., President Franklin Delano Roosevelt can declare war on the Axis, and Winston Churchill has made a secret trip to Washington to discuss strategy. After starting as Churchill's secretary, brilliant math major Maggie Hope has graduated to become an accomplished spy. Raised in Boston by her American aunt after the supposed deaths of her parents, she now knows that her father is a codebreaker for Great Britain and her mother's a Nazi spy imprisoned in England. Arriving at the White House, she's sucked into helping Eleanor Roosevelt when they go check up on Mrs. Roosevelt's missing secretary, Blanche Balfour, a Southern belle whose boyfriend is urging her to help him create a scandal. Maggie and Eleanor find Blanche dead in her bathtub, her wrists slit. The setup screams suicide, but Maggie is suspicious enough to remove a writing pad from Blanche's room. Judicious use of a pencil shows that a letter written on the pad accused Eleanor of trying to kiss Blanche. Maggie also becomes involved in the cause of Wendell Cotton, a black man on death row in Virginia, whom an all-white jury has convicted of murder and sentenced to die. Mrs. Roosevelt is eager to save him, but her husband refuses to interfere because he needs Southern support for the war effort. While Churchill and Roosevelt huddle, Maggie's former lover, Flight Lt. John Sterling, another of Churchill's aides, is sent to California to drum up publicity and work with Walt Disney on a cartoon Sterling created. Maggie remains in D.C., assisted by a reporter who was once her old college friend, to wrestle with Blanche's murder and Cotton's fate. MacNeal (The Prime Minister's Secret Agent, 2014, etc.) paints an engrossing portrait of a country on the verge of war, with many laws suspended and prejudice rife—a world not that much different from today.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169062427
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	10/27/2015
Series:	Maggie Hope Series , #5
Edition description:	Unabridged

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Chapter One
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Excerpted from "Mrs. Roosevelt's Confidante"
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Copyright © 2015 Susan Elia MacNeal.
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