Review of The Paris Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal
From the publisher:
American-born spy and code-breaker extraordinaire Maggie Hope secretly navigates Nazi-occupied France to find two brave women during the darkest days of World War II in the latest novel in this New York Times bestselling series—“a treat for WWII buffs and mystery lovers alike” (Booklist, on The Prime Minister’s Secret Agent).
Maggie Hope has come a long way since serving as a typist for Winston Churchill. Now she’s working undercover for the Special Operations Executive in the elegant but eerily silent city of Paris, where SS officers prowl the streets in their Mercedes and the Ritz is draped with swastika banners. Walking among the enemy is tense and terrifying, and even though she’s disguised in chic Chanel, Maggie can’t help longing for home.
But her missions come first. Maggie’s half sister, Elise, has disappeared after being saved from a concentration camp, and Maggie is desperate to find her—that is, if Elise even wants to be found. Equally urgent, Churchill is planning the Allied invasion of France, and SOE agent Erica Calvert has been captured, the whereabouts of her vital research regarding Normandy unknown. Maggie must risk her life to penetrate powerful circles and employ all her talents for deception and spycraft to root out a traitor, find her sister, and locate the reports crucial to planning D-Day in a deadly game of wits with the Nazi intelligence elite.
My review:
Once again MacNeal delivers a well-written historical thriller with solid structure and plot. Characters in “The Paris Spy” are skillfully developed and credible characters, which contributes to the believability of the storyline.
In a storyline filled with strengths and few weaknesses, the descriptions also help to establish the setting of World War II Paris, creating a good sense of time and place.
Historical facts are expertly woven into the story and there are plenty of twists and turns to maintain the pace and suspense. This may be the best Maggie Hope Mystery yet.
