World War II spy mystery novel set off the coast of Scotland

The Prisoner in the Castle: A Maggie Hope Mystery

By: Susan Elia MacNeal

Rating: 5 of 5

I’m a real fan of this series and have read all but one of the books. How I missed the last book is beyond me but I will be rectifying that shortly.

A quick word to say that while this book can be read stand-alone, I suggest reading the series in order. The series follows events of WWII and provides a good history backdrop to the fictional account of Maggie Hope, English spy. Even missing the last book was enough to make me wonder about what had just happened to place Maggie where she is in this story.

Maggie and some fellow English spies are being held (by their own government) on an island prison just off the coast of Scotland. When some suspicious deaths occur, the spies start turning on their own. Maggie keeps her head and tries to figure out the logical play of events. Since Maggie is a mathematician, logic plays a large part of her persona.

The past looms large with the history of the island reasserting itself in current events.

I will be looking forward to more books in this series in the future. I’ve enjoyed not only the progress of the stories but also the growth of the author as she has honed her skill from book to book.

I was provided a digital advance reader copy of this book by the publisher via Netgalley.