MOTHER DAUGHTER TRAITOR SPY by Susan Elia MacNeal will be published on September 20th 2022 by Bantam.
It's the Summer of 1940, and Veronica Grace is newly graduated from college and ready to start her career as a journalist for a popular magazine—that is until her affair with a married man comes to light and ruin her plans. Hoping for a fresh start, Veronica and her mother, Violet, move from New York City to Los Angeles. After taking a job as a secretary for a local publisher, Veronica realizes that her new boss is a supporter of Hitler and that he uses his publishing company to pass along Nazi propaganda. The local police and FBI agents show little interest in the publisher, but a group of Jewish spymasters persuade Veronica and Violet to go undercover and help them gather evidence against the American Nazis and their mission to recruit more people to their organizations.
I am a big fan of the MacNeal's Maggie Hope series, so I was excited to read her stand-alone novel. MOTHER DAUGHTER TRAITOR SPY is inspired by a real life mother-daughter duo (and some of their cohorts) who spied on and brought down American Nazis in California. This novel highlights a seldom talked about aspect of history—that Hitler had a strong following throughout the United States. MacNeal packs the novel full of facts concerning the people, places, and lifestyle of the early 1940s. Through Veronica and Violet, MacNeal shows that the "bad guys" aren't always completely evil. Aside from their horrible views/opinions, the people that Veronica and Violet are spying on are nice people. But being nice does not make them good. Overall, a very engaging interesting read.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.