The Prime Minister's Secret Agent

The Prime Minister's Secret Agent by Susan Elia MacNeal
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Maggie is back in Britain, struggling with PTSD and depression, which she calls "The Black Dog." She retreats to Scotland to train aspiring spies, her only friend a stray cat who adopts her. When her supervisor forces her to attend the ballet to which she's been invited by her former flatmate, Sarah, Maggie finds herself in the middle of a murder mystery with ties to secret military experiments, and she discovers that sleuthing keeps The Black Dog at bay.

Meanwhile, at the Tower of London prison, Clara Hess, awaits her execution, insisting she'll only tell her secrets to Maggie, who refuses to go see her. She begins displaying multiple distinct personalities, but is she acting, or are they real?

On the other side of the world, the Japanese are preparing to attack Pearl Harbor. Despite ample clues and warnings, the U.S. fails to put the pieces together in time. However, the horrific attack brings enormous relief to the beleaguered British as the Americans finally join the war.

For reader's advisors: character doorway is primary, story and setting secondary. Some swearing. Characters are definitely flawed, but they grow and develop over the course of the book.

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Princess Elizabeth's Spy

Princess Elizabeth's Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Book #2 in this series was enjoyable to read in many respects, but it had so many issues, I wish there had been another round of revisions before it went to print.  For example:
* There was a continuity issue wherein Maggie read a newspaper account of a supposed suicide in a London hotel, then a few scenes later magically knew the young woman had been murdered, but shortly thereafter still thought it was a suicide.  Huh?
* Also, as other reviewers have pointed out, the plot parallels the TV show "Alias" WAY too closely.  I am a huge "Alias" fan, but the TV show did it first and better!
* I liked Hugh, and if Ms. MacNeal hadn't so abruptly had John join the RAF between books & get immediately shot down, the romance would have worked a lot better.
* For a brilliant, logical woman, Maggie sure overlooked the obvious and jumped to too many (wrong) conclusions.  She is new to spying, so a touch of that would be fine, but not constantly.
* The subplot about who killed Lily was rather a dud after the careful opening setup.  Like the author meant to go one way, changed her mind mid-book, and never went back to adjust the scenes/story/plot to fit.
* Maggie often seemed less mature in this book.  I kept trying to figure out how old she was because it felt like she'd regressed.

There are other things, but you get the point.  Still, I like the series overall and am already listening to Book #3.

For readers' advisors:  character, story, and setting doorways.  Some profanity throughout.  Some violence (a pretty high body count--mostly gunshots and one beheading).  Allusions to sex but no actual sex scenes.  Still WWII England in all but a few scenes.  Leisurely pace until the very end.

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