THE QUEEN'S ACCOMPLICE

An accomplished young woman fights hate and misogyny in World War II Britain.

Maggie Hope was born in Britain but raised in America by her university professor aunt. Since her return to war-torn Britain, she’s been a secretary to Winston Churchill, a spy, a decoder, a protector for the royal family, a thwarter of her Nazi-spy mother’s plans, and a confidante to Eleanor Roosevelt. She’s currently an assistant at one of the Special Operation’s Executive offices, where her misogynist boss ignores her warnings about an agent Maggie knows has been compromised and refuses to seek better pay and pensions for the women risking their lives overseas. As Maggie awaits the arrival of her younger half sister, Elise Hess, rescued from her dangerous life in Germany, a modern-day Jack the Ripper is killing young women, at least some of whom are on their way to the SOE for interviews. Maggie’s recently moved back to her house, which was damaged in a bombing raid, and is sharing with an old friend whose house was blown up. A former roommate, ballerina Sarah Sanderson, has almost completed her SOE training and plans to go to France with Maggie’s former boyfriend Hugh Thompson, with whom she has fallen in love. Maggie, who also occasionally works for MI-5, is ordered to join forces with the police to catch the new Ripper because of the victims’ connections with SOE. Though DCI James Durgin is none too pleased to work with MI-5, he quickly learns to appreciate Maggie’s many skills and her willingness to risk her life in pursuit of the killer.

Maggie (Mrs. Roosevelt’s Confidante, 2015, etc.) is a thoughtful spy whose dangerous escapades never disappoint.