Mrs. Roosevelt’s Confidante: A Maggie Hope Mystery
By: Susan Elia MacNeal
Rating: 3.5 of 5
I’ve read the books in this series over the last few years. What has drawn me to them are that I love mysteries and I have enjoyed the World War II component. I enjoy many books and television series that revolve around this time (my favorite is Foyle’s War and the new series Home Fires.) Unfortunate, in this book, Ms. MacNeal has focused more on racial prejudices of the United States during the period than on the mystery or war efforts. While it was still a good read, it was not what I expected from a Maggie Hope Mystery.
The “mystery” is solved very early on and would encompass a chapter or two if it were consolidated into its own book. The war effort is perhaps a little longer but really only has a few days of meeting between President Roosevelt and Prime Minster Churchill at its heart. There are a couple of previews of war drama provided but it appears that those will be in the next book rather than this one.
I don’t know if it is the change of venue that changed the heart of this book or not. It is primarily told in the United States in the DC area (though there is a part of the story in Los Angeles and part of it in the UK.) It just seemed that the story of a condemned killer who did not get a fair trial (because of his race) was shoehorned into this mystery series. It might have been a better stand-alone story as it is so different from the stories that have come before.
It was still a good read but not one that I would recommend as a mystery. I would call it fiction/literature that deals with race in the south during the 1940’s and that is how I would recommend it.
I received a complimentary copy of this book via the publisher.
