The Hollywood Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal

THE HOLLYWOOD SPY by Susan Elia MacNeal is book number ten in the best-selling Maggie Hope mystery series (see also previously reviewed titles like The Prime Minister’s Secret Agent or The Paris Spy or The Prisoner in the Castle). This latest addition is set in 1943 Los Angeles where British spy Maggie Hope has arrived to help solve a murder and where white nationalists are plotting destruction and mayhem. MacNeal’s historical research is always precise and she continues those efforts here, although she rather blatantly and repeatedly points out the many instances of racial, religious, and/or gender discrimination at that time. For example, one of Maggie’s friends, a white dancer named Sarah, is attracted to her musician accompanist named Henry, but they face a limited set of choices for where they can meet because he is Black. Visiting iconic Hollywood sites like recording studios and nightclubs, Maggie focuses on solving the death of a young woman who was found in a swimming pool, even enlisting the help of Linus Pauling at CalTech.  In parallel chapters, Will Whitaker is plotting a bombing, colluding with crooked cops, and organizing the killing of others in defense of values espoused by the Klu Klux Klan, homegrown Nazis, and similar fascist groups. THE HOLLYWOOD SPY is dedicated to the memory of those who worked to fight Nazism in Los Angeles before and during WWII. And, for those interested in learning more about that era, MacNeal includes a lengthy list of relevant books, videos and articles.