THE PRISONER IN THE CASTLE by Susan Elia MacNeal is yet another well-written
mystery in the Maggie Hope series (see also previously reviewed titles like The Prime Minister’s Secret Agent and The Paris Spy). Maggie performs clandestine work for the British government during
WWII and in this novel, she is sent to the “cooler” on an isolated island in
the north of Scotland. As a kind of “house party,” she and several other trained spies
are detained together due to various reasons like emotional breakdowns, too
much knowledge, violent tendencies and so forth. They are forced to stay at
the decrepit Killoch Castle whose past owner was accused of murdering his
guests and committing suicide. While spending their days fishing, hunting,
eating and drinking, these professional soldiers are frustrated at being forced
to sit out the war, but that quickly changes to fear and paranoia as more and
more members of their group are murdered in a manner reminiscent of Christie’s And Then There Were None. THE
PRISONER IN THE CASTLE is a bit more of a “cozy” mystery than earlier
titles in the series, but Maggie still needs all of her training and some quick
thinking to survive in this entertaining, well-researched historical mystery.
FOUR FUNERALS AND MAYBE A WEDDING by Rhys Bowen is set in England a
couple of years earlier and is part of The Royal Spyness series. The main
character is slightly flighty and ever impoverished Lady Georgiana Rannoch who
is planning her July 1935 wedding to Darcy O’Mara. As part of the royal family,
Lady Georgiana bows to the Queen’s suggestion that the princesses (Elizabeth
and Margaret) be bridesmaids. She is also lucky enough to be offered Eynsleigh,
an estate of one of her mother’s former husbands, as a place to live. Forewarned
that “all might not be as it should be” at Eynsleigh, she arrives to find a
completely new staff who appear incompetent and insolent. Channeling her great
grandmother Queen Victoria, Lady Georgiana attempts to put things right and is
reinforced by the arrival of her mother, grandfather, and former maid,
Queenie. Despite several attempts on her life and other suspicious activities,
this cozy mystery is very light and diverting.
FOUR FUNERALS AND MAYBE A WEDDING is a LibraryReads selection for August and received a starred review from Library Journal.
