"Mother Daughter Traitor Spy" was a great book. Violet and Veronica Grace, mother and daughter, infiltrate isolationist and American Nazi organizations in California during WWII, and provide information to a Jewish lawyer, who passes it along to the FBI, enabling the authorities to stop multiple plots for sabotage or violence. The story itself is great, with plenty of drama, intrigue, suspense, danger, passion, political and cultural ideology, romance, etc. However, what makes the story particularly impressive to me is that while the book is historical fiction, the characters and events described in the book are based on real people and events. I am not sure I could have done what Grace and Sylvia Comfort (the inspirations for Violet and Veronica Grace) did. While I could potentially go undercover/be a spy in certain circumstances, the vitriol and actions of American Nazi groups was so horrid that I do not believe I could have pretended to be a supporter and hide my abhorrence long enough to gather the necessary intelligence.

I received a copy of the e-book via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

Mother Daughter Traitor Spy is a riveting story of how two women fight the threat from white nationalists in the months before Pearl Harbor. The novel is faithful to its historical roots and doesn't simplify either the complexities of the times or its main character, Veronica Grace. When blonde, blue-eyed Veronica and her equally Aryan-looking mother relocate to Los Angeles they are recruited by the anti-Semitic, America First movement. After the police and the FBI refuse to address their concerns they become spies for an independent group of likeminded patriots. One of the great pleasures of this book, aside from the suspenseful narrative, is the astute psychological underpinnings of each character. Veronica and her mother are not forced into their dangerous mission; they pursue it and embrace it, and in the process attain autonomy and independence. The resolution of their story is deeply satisfying. Well-written and well=plotted, this book is a page-turner that, paradoxically, you won't want to rush through. Highly recommend.

A riveting tale about the courage of two women—mother and daughter Vi and Veronica Grace—who bravely infiltrate a Nazi cell located in California during World War II. Until I read this book, I had no idea how strong the Nazi support was in the United States. Isolationists who didn’t want the United States to commit our treasure and troops. Businessmen who envied the prosperity Hitler brought to Germany after World War I. These forces combined to organize subversive groups determined to insure the United States remained neutral using anti-Semitic propaganda directly from Germany. Vi and Veronica thwart these efforts by befriending and working for those who run the Nazi cell. A wonderful novel depicting the courage and patriotism of average Americans. Highly recommend. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

A bona fide Nazi movement in America in the 1930-40's, ridiculous. But it happened, What fascinated me about a mother and daughter going undercover in Los Angeles to spy on fellow Americans that were laying the ground work for a Nazi America is that so much of it was true. The Historical Notes at the end of the book really brings the story alive for me and how this could actually happen in the United States.
This spy novel is very patriotic. It certainly shows another side of how some people viewed freedom under a Hitler rule in the United States. Thanks to the courage of many to uncover the plots and sabotage before vital places were destroyed.
Vi, the mother and Veronica the daughter move from New York City to Los Angeles due to financial problems. Vi's brother, Walter sets them up in a house but they need to find work. Being of German-American descent they seek out others like themselves. Then the plot thickens. The characters are believable and lovable. I would recommend this to history buffs and lovers of historical fiction to get an idea of what happened in our country leading up to WWII.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book Veronica and her mother just moved to California in the 1940's. She graduated college and is looking for a job. She starts a new job and is concerned about the companies policies. She tries to sound the alarm. I liked this book.

This is what the last Maggie Hope book should have been. A young woman finds work and is horrified that it's for a Nazi publisher, her Mother is asked to embroider blouses like the one she wears, and figures out the women she's working for all are all Nazis as well. Mother and Daughter end up becoming spies and infiltrating the California Nazis, thwarting a plan that could have been detrimental to the US's victory during WWII.It's frightening to read at times, seeing the parallels between the past and the modern day, with everyday people getting caught up in a cult of personality. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and would highly recommend it.

Mother Daughter Traitor Spy is a stand alone novel by Susan Elia MacNeal, author of the Maggie Hope Series. MDTS follows a mother and daughter, Vi and Veronica, two German-Americans who relocate to Los Angeles shortly before America enters into WWII and find themselves spying on a group of Nazis in America. The story is based on real life characters and if you read The Hollywood Spy in the Maggie Hope series, the setting and plot will feel familiar.

The action starts when Veronica, a journalist by trade, applies for a secretarial position and soon finds herself working for a leader of the Nazi party in America. Angered by what she witnesses, she goes to the FBI to inform them of what’s going on and instead gets asked to spy for them. Shortly thereafter, her mother meets a group of ladies at a tea and it turns out these are the wives of prominent Nazis in America and soon the mother and daughter team are feeding information to the FBI.

What I love about Ms MacNeal’s stories is that they remind me of books I used to read at my grandma’s house that were written in the 1930’s and 1940’s. The heroines are strong and intelligent, and after some nail biting everything is tied up nicely. And of course, there is always a handsome gentleman. Her stories take me back to a simpler, happy time.

Thank you to the publisher and the author for an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Astoundingly and oh, so frighteningly relevant to the USA’s present day. Author Susan Elia MacNeal has put aside her beloved “Maggie Hope” series to bring us this standalone novel which is at once a rollicking good, page-turning spy story set within our own borders in Southern California - and a powerful, important and thought-provoking cautionary tale. Expertly told and obviously well researched, MacNeal nails the setting and the courage of the mother-daughter spy team while illustrating masterfully the seeping and creeping into the lives of ordinary people the bigotry, Aryan supremacy, hatred and other evils of Hitler’s Nazi platform, turning them into the traitors of the book’s title. I’ve read all of the Maggie Hope series, and believe this book is among MacNeal’s very best - and deserves an even broader audience given its prescient subject matter. Many thanks to NetGalley and Bantam for the complementary electronic ARC.

A brilliant book by a gifted author! I could not put it down!

Mother, Daughter, Traitor, Spy (MDTS) is historical fiction at its finest! The book is based in fact, as there was indeed a mother and daughter who worked as spies in California just before the U.S. entered WWII. There is not a lot known of the specifics of their spying, but they were simply ordinary women, not highly trained spies. This book creates a fleshed-out scenario of what might have actually happened, because everything is based on the meticulous research SEM carried out.

SEM is one of my absolute favorite authors. She writes characters that are incredibly real and make the reader care about them. The plots are dramatic, realistic, and engrossing. It often takes me days to overcome the withdrawal I must endure after finishing one of her books.

MDTS is a standalone book that is set around the same time as her previous book, The Hollywood Spy, which is part of the Maggie Hope Series. That too is an outstanding book. Having read all the other books in this series which focus on Europe during WWII it is fascinating to read about life in the U.S. during the same period. The references to historical events, places, ideas, and pop culture, made this a trip into the long-lost past. I was not aware of a lot of the things SEM wrote about, but I was interested enough to spend time googling them to learn more. Some of these iconic American things include:

o ice boxes
o wringer washing machines
o Flexy Racers
o automat restaurants
o chocolate egg creams with U-Bet syrup
o Suffragist rings
o Angels Flight cars

The plot held me from beginning to end. The tension was exquisite, and as I read, I kept worrying about Vi and Veronica. I hovered between anxiety for their safety and relief at the progress they were making, but having read the Author’s Notes, I knew they would survive.

Some of the passages where SEM writes about the American Nazis’ hatred of people who were “not like them,” is too close to what some people feel today.

“Fellow Americans,” he intoned, “we need to rise and stop these
forces who would lead us into war. Our battle cry is for Christianity
and the Constitution. Our objective is to rid America of
subversive influences…”

Looking back at the period in question, it is unfathomable that people would “Heil Hitler!” in public. It was stunning to see how Nazi followers could act this way without impunity and no shame.

While MDTS honestly attempts to explain why people can be filled with so much hatred of others, it does not portray them as sadistic monsters. They were characterized as misinformed, scared, or ignorant—while some were indeed evil. It also showed how some power-hungry people can trick others for their own self-serving purposes.

I admire SEM’s obvious respect for all people. These quotes exemplify this:

But in the event of war, Veronica feared most for the Japanese.
She’d known a few Japanese….. They have nothing to do with
the war, Veronica knew. They’re good citizens. But not everyone
will see them and their families like that if and when we go to war.
We’ll need to be on our guard to treat all Americans as Americans……”

“We can’t punish the innocent for the crimes of the guilty in lands
from which they came and long since disassociated themselves.”

MDTS is an outstanding work of fiction based on facts that is both illuminating and entertaining. I absolutely loved this book!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

#MotherDaughterTraitorSpy #NetGalley

Very entertaining mystery set in California just before WWII, based on the true story of mother-daughter spies. Veronica and her mother Vi move to California to start fresh after Veronica messes up her life in New York. After Veronica finds that her first employers are Nazis, she's approached to gather information about them and their various groups. Her mother runs into more Nazis (who want to hire her to embroider swastikas on their blouses) and infiltrates them as well, after she finds out what her daughter is up to. Being German-American, they're quickly included in the social scene of these people.

Few people are aware how widespread the acceptance of Nazism was and how prevalent anti-Semitism in the U.S. before WWII. The KKK, the America First, the Silver Shirts and other groups worked hard to help Germany before and during WWII and were supported financially by Germany. I found the exploration of this history very interesting and informative. There are far fewer novels set in the homefront of the U.S. than Britain; I was very glad to read this one.

Thanks to Random House and Netgalley for an ARC copy.

I am going to tell you one thing that you must know, if you have not read one of Susan Ella MacNeal's novels, you must remedy that soon. Every book that she writes is full of intrigue and moments where I go "NO, that can't happen!!".

This book is NOT part of the Maggie Hope series, this one is about a mother and daughter who have to leave their life in New York for a new life in California. Almost immediately they become entangled in a web of Nazi sympathizers and have to figure out a way to bring them down, and enter the spying.

I was not happy I had to go to work because I would have loved to finish this book in one sitting. This is perfect for an afternoon by the pool or an excellent road trip accompaniment.

"Mother Daughter Traitor Spy" is the story of a mother and daughter who accidentally find themselves entangled in American Nazi's established in Los Angeles prior to the USA's entrance to WWII. The mother daughter duo become spies to help bring down the Nazi plans in the USA, many of which were based on actual events and real people. It was interesting to read a WWII historical fiction book set in Los Angeles, it was unexpected for me and allowed me to learn more about this period of time. I also enjoyed seeing the characters Veronica and Vi get deeper and deeper into the organization and putting everything at risk. However, I felt like this story moved a little slow, and was unrealistic at times as to how quickly they were brought in, and how long they were able to continue spying without being caught. The romance aspects of the book also seemed slightly out of place and underdeveloped.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for my review.

I have been a fan of Susan Elia MacNeal's books for a while. I have devoured her Maggie Hope stories, set in England during WWII and transitioning to the US after the war. This book is a result of some of the research she did for Maggie's latest adventure in Los Angeles.

Veronica Grace is a recent graduate of Hunter College in New York and is all set to take a job at Mademoiselle magazine when an affair she has been having with a married man leads to her and her mother's sudden relocation from New York to Los Angeles. Looking for a job, she is referred to a man who needs some typing done and is shocked to find this is a Nazi group operating in California on the brink of the US entrance into the War. She contacts the police and the FBI, but they are more interested in rounding up Communists and have no interest in Nazi activities. But she does make contact with a Jewish group who knows all too well how dangerous this group is and both she and her mother agree to go undercover and help bring the activities to light.

Both Veronica and her mother, Violet, are in danger at times as they pass along information they gather and all the danger is magnified with the final solution the Nazis hope to put together on December 6, 1941.

I wasn't sure what to expect from Susan Alia MaNeal's first freestanding novel. I was in no way disappointed. This book was a page turner. I kept reading and reading and wanting to know more. It is a well-crafted story, and I would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Maggie Hope or World War Ii historical fiction in general.

June 1940. When Veronica Grace loses an opportunity to begin a career as a journalist in New York City, she and her mother decide to move to Los Angeles for a fresh start. Almost immediately they stumble into a ring of American Nazis who have plans to defeat Roosevelt and bring German propaganda to the States. At the same time both mother and daughter are recruited to share the secrets of the organization in order to tear it down.

Based on a true story, Mother Daughter Traitor Spy shows how average citizens were a part of the war effort on the West Coast prior to Pearl Harbor. I have a great love for spy novels and had not previously read of these activities. Overall the story of the duo was quite unbelievable. It seems they would have been suspected and caught much earlier as they did not take enough precautions or maybe the Nazis themselves were just too accepting.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

MOTHER DAUGHTER TRAITOR SPY

In Susan Elia MacNeal's MOTHER DAUGHTER TRAITOR SPY, Veronica and her mother Vi talk about the ocean being on the wrong side after they move from N.Y. to California. The cross-country move wasn’t what they planned (life’s complicated twists) but it opens unexpected doors, and brings an opportunity to make a difference in the world. They need courage and resilience to face dangers we’d wish were unthinkable but were and still are all too frighteningly real. The theme of Persephone and pomegranate seeds is apt . . . going into the underworld, there’s no guarantee of a safe exit.
Author’s notes included research sources showing how much of this fictional account is based on real events in our “democracy if we can keep it.” It’s frightening to think how different the outcome of WWII could have been without courage and persistence.
The other powerful lesson is the destructive power of hurt turned to hate. Veronica’s gift is her ability to see the person behind the posturing, and while “nice isn’t always good,” she tries to find the good even when it’s hard to see. This is not an easy book, but it’s well told and important. I’ve seldom felt so worried about a character in a book and about our real life problems, but as in Pandora’s box, there’s hope.

Mother Daughter Traitor Spy is an enlightening novel revealing American Nazi anti-semitism activities during World War Two in the USA. Along with the secret movements were the secret spies making for lives in danger of discovery and capture. Violet and Veronica bravely fulfill their tasks in this fictionalized story representing the true survivors of that era. For more history of WWII era I recommend reading this one.

This book was great, the characters were well developed. The plot was interesting. Highly recommend it.

I learned a lot from reading this book. I never knew that the Nazi movement in America was so strong. I love the writing. After reading all the Maggie Hope series, I was anxious to dive into this. It didn’t disappoint. With characters based on real people, MacNeal is able to bring them to life with her attention to details and knack for dialogue. If you like historical fiction, you’ll love this book!

Mother Daughter Traitor Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal is an excellent WWII-era historical fiction that has it all: history, mystery, intrigue, suspense, and kept me glued to every page from beginning to end. I loved it!

I absolutely adore Ms. MacNeal’s Maggie Hope series, so when I had the opportunity to read this stand alone HF novel taking place during WWII, I knew I had to read it. And it is amazing.

The two main characters (mother/daughter duo) Violet and Veronica Grace are just wonderful. Realistic, likable, flawed, complex, and just perfect for this narrative of secrets, risks, intrigue, espionage, undercover work, high stakes, and investigative genius.

This is so unique, catchy, and addictive, that I dare anyone to not take this on and not be entranced. Fantastic.

5/5 stars

Thank you NG and Bantam/Random House Publishing for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 9/20/22.