Nazi

I love the Maggie Hope series by Susan Elia MacNeal, so I was thrilled to get the latest installment. These mysteries are so interesting as I learn a lot about espionage during WWII. I love the character of Maggie and how she is a strong, independent woman and so smart! Susan MacNeal has great pacing in her works and is definitely a writer who does her research.

Here’s the scoop — and is this really the LAST book in this series??? I guess we will wait and see….

Description

All will be revealed in this no-holds-barred finale of the New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award–nominated Maggie Hope series as the intrepid spy teams up with fashion designer—and possible double agent—Coco Chanel to bring down the physicist behind Nazi Germany’s nuclear program.

“Intrepid Maggie Hope’s high-stakes mission is fraught with danger and moral questions. . . . A heartfelt story.”—Cara Black, New York Times bestselling author of Three Hours in Paris

Maggie Hope has come a long way since she was Mr. Churchill’s secretary. In the face of tremendous danger, she’s learned espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance. But things are different now that she has so much to lose, including the possibility of a family with John Sterling, the man who’s long held her heart.

British Intelligence has ordered Maggie to assassinate Werner Heisenberg, the physicist who may deliver a world-ending fission bomb for Germany. She’s shaken. An assassination is unlike anything she has ever done. How can the Allies even be sure Nazi Germany has a bomb? Determined to gather more information, Maggie travels to Madrid, where Heisenberg is visiting for a lecture.

At the same time, couturier Coco Chanel, a spy in her own right with ambiguous loyalties, has requested a mysterious meeting with the British ambassador in Madrid—and has requested Maggie join them. As the two play a dangerous game of cat and mouse, Maggie tries to get a better understanding of Heisenberg, but is faced with betrayal and a threat more terrifying than losing her own life.

Maggie desperately wants to find her happily-ever-after, but as the war reaches a fever pitch, the stakes keep rising. Now, more than ever, the choices she makes will reverberate around the globe, touching everyone she loves—with fateful implications for the future of the free world.

So so so good!!! Thank you for my review copy!

I’ve developed a HUGE love of Swedish crime novels. This is a whole genre in and of itself and I really like the blend of mystery, character development, and setting. THE HIDDEN CHILD is no exception – it is a well-crafted and executed mystery novel that kept me up reading late at night. I purchased this novel through a Book Bub promotion for my kindle. While this book has characters that were in earlier Lackberg novels, which I haven’t read, I felt it easily stood alone as well.

In THE HIDDEN CHILD, Erika, a writer, is going through her attic when she comes across some odd and surprising things in her deceased mother’s belongings: a blood stained child’s dress, a diary, and a Nazi medal. Erika, whose husband is a police detective supposedly home on paternity leave but very much missing the office, tries to determine the origin of the medal (and why her mother had it), and visits an elderly local man who specializes in Nazi history. He soon turns up dead. Coincidence? I think not. Erika continues to unearth past secrets which very much affect the present, while her husband assists in locating a murderer who is willing to strike again. Events converge for a shattering conclusion.

I really enjoyed this novel, which is apparently around 400 pages but felt shorter. I often wake during the night and I was thrilled to have the opportunity read this book then! I will definitely look for more by Lackberg – her plot, her writing, her characters, the location – all these things combined to make a satisfying read for me!

You can see this book on Amazon where I got mine.