I grabbed this novel from Net Galley as it seemed like the type of historical cozy mystery I would like: it’s the early 1940’s, and Maggie Hope, young British spy and former secretary to Mr. Churchill, takes on a mission as math tutor to Princess Elizabeth (today’s QEII) in order to keep an eye on things at Windsor Castle. Maggie has no shortage of folks that seem suspicious, and she starts to have feelings for a few of the men she comes to know. There is plenty of back story here as this is the second novel in a series. Maggie struggles in her spy training. She is looked down on for being a woman. She has a fiance who is missing in action. She has a complicated relationship with her father (whom she always thought was dead). She questions her mother’s death in an accident. There’s even more going on in these books that I won’t go into — but I really enjoyed the period, the details, the plotline, and the fast-paced writing. It kept me reading until the end (which I had figured out in advance, but oh well!). They reminded me of Rhys Bowen’s “Her Royal Spyness” series.

Thanks, Net Galley and Bantam Press for my copy!