The Prisoner in the Castle: A Maggie Hope Mystery by Susan Elia MacNeal

Maggie Hope has been assigned to the Isle of Scarra, off the West coast of Scotland, with a group of other SOE Agents. They all are there because they know too much or have committed a transgression in training- like Camilla. The atmosphere is brooding at Killoch Castle, a Victorian hunting Lodge filled with hideous decor.

Years before the Owner of this Castle- Marcus Killoch, had hunted men like animals and performed unspeakable acts. He in turn was murdered, along with his hunting friends. Some say the ghosts were still there, along with the servants.

The Agents are all trained and bored, sitting out the war with their cigarettes and alcohol. Maggie explained it like this-broken, powerless, and trapped. Death returns to the Island, filling the scene with a déjà vu. The murder of the Officer, who is in charge of the facility, has set the zoo loose. Hysteria, rears its ugly head in Anna, one of the Agents, who believes the ghost of the former Owner-  has come back. Something is terribly wrong on Forbidden Island and suspicion builds with each page.

This is a tense story, loaded with atmosphere and murder. The characters are each filled with boredom, guilty secrets, tension and an occasional liaison. The conversation is witty, flippant and at times terrified among them, but, that makes for interesting reading. Who is the psychopath among them is the only unanswered question? I found the deaths reminiscent at times of Agatha Christie's, And Then There Were None.

An Island set in the west coast of Scotland, gray and remote, certainly added to the thriller aspect of this Mystery. I could smell the fear coming from the characters before the end of the book. Yet there is one more twist in store for the readers.This historical thriller rates Five Stars...

Blurb:
A series of baffling murders among a group of imprisoned agents threatens the outcome of World War II in this chilling mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of Mr. Churchill’s Secretary.

World War II is raging, and former spy Maggie Hope knows too much.

She knows what the British government is willing to do to keep its secrets.

She knows the real location of the planned invasion of France.

She knows who’s lying. She knows who the double-crossers are. She knows exactly who is sending agents to their deaths.

These are the reasons Maggie is isolated on a remote Scottish island, in a prison known as Killoch Castle, out of contact with friends and family.

Then one of her fellow inmates drops dead in the middle of his after-dinner drink—and he’s only the first. As victims fall one by one, Maggie will have to call upon all her wits and skills to escape—not just certain death . . . but certain murder.

For what’s the most important thing Maggie Hope knows?

She must survive.