Mr. Churchill's Secretary

This is the first book in the "Maggie Hope" series by Susan Elia MacNeal. I real a later book (The Queen's Accomplice) and was taken with the protagonist, so decided to start at the beginning. This book won a Barry Award and was nominated for Edgar, Macavity, and Dilys Awards. Not only does the author dig into details about day to day life in London when the Blitz was soon to start, but she deals with the misogyny of the British hierarchy that allowed them to hire women as spies to go behind enemy lines while denying them official  recognition and their survivors any death benefits.  This, of course, wasn't the case for men hired into the same jobs. There was this bizarre and inexcusable belief that, if Hitler knew they hired women as spies, he would consider the British to be weak.

Born to American parents in London, Maggie is orphaned at an early age and taken to Boston by a maiden (in this case Lesbian) aunt. When a grandmother she's never met dies and leaves her a "Victorian pile" in London, Maggie heads "across the pond" to sell the house, even as war looms on the horizon. But it turns out it's impossible to sell the house with German invasion imminent, so Maggie takes in roommates to make ends meet and decides to stay and try to help with the war effort. Maggie is hired as a typist when a secretary in the Prime Minister's office is murdered. She takes umbrage at having been passed over for the more demanding role of secretary (which only Oxbridge men were allowed to take), because she knows her math and pattern recognition skills are superior to those who do get hired, but still accepts the position at the urging of her friend David, who works in the PM's office. Not only is Germany intent on destroying England with nightly bombing, but the IRA is collaborating with them to destroy the government from within, and Maggie gets caught up in a plot to assassinate the Prime Minister. Along the way, she uncovers evidence that the father she thought was dead may still be alive.

Although Publishers Weekly offers a less than glowing review, I really enjoyed this book and will read more in the series. Kirkus concludes, "Brave, clever Maggie’s debut is an enjoyable mix of mystery, thriller and romance that captures the harrowing experiences of life in war-torn London." The Seattle Post-Intelligencer cautions, "The emphasis on Mr. Churchill's Secretary is certainly more on the fiction part and less on the history, which makes it a fun ride" but goes on to praise by saying, "Ms. MacNeal managed to write a compelling and captivating debut, while creating a saucy character."