Fourteen-year-old Beth Johnson is a talented and beautiful young actress. She is also a spy. It's the summer of 1665, and the horrific Plague is overwhelming London. With so many dead and dying, the King's Master of Secrets, Alan Strange, must entrust Beth with her most important mission yet. With pestilence all around her, will Beth survive long enough to discover who is behind the latest conspiracy to kill the King?
In the summer of 1665 London, England was struck with a horrible plague. Beth’s theater group had received orders from the King. The group had been sent to Oxford where the King’s young cousin will be joining them for the time being. Beth and her fellow theater group are put to the test as they “graciously” help the young star adjust to the group. With the Kings cousin joining the play Beth is relieved to receive a letter from Spymaster Strange. The spreading plague has been devastating to Mr. Strange’s business, with all his best spies dead from either the plague or through the missions they were recently sent on. He is left to rely on Beth, John, and Ralph to uncover the latest plot to kill the King. Beth and her fellow spies are having difficulty figuring out the four initials of the suspected conspirators and tracking them down as the plague takes its toll on London. With the first one dead from the plague, they must find a way to uncover the other three initials and figure out how they plan to kill the King before it’s too late. Beth, John, and Ralph have had to turn to using any resource they have available to them even if it means revealing themselves as spies or worse, coming in direct contact with victims of the plague, to solve this case. Can Beth and her fellow spies escape the fate of this horrible plague and uncover the plot to kill the King in time?
Author Jo Macauley has created a very cool series for any spy buff or history buff. This is the second book of the series Secrets & Spies. Young readers will become engrossed in the eerie plot that will quench their thirst for action and intrigue. This fast-paced read has the familiar characters and even a few new ones. Readers will enjoy the same type of vivid scenery that continues to pull them back in time. The back of the book has a personal note from the author to the reader
The book that I read is called "Secrets and Spies Plague" by Jo Macaulay. This book is a plot twist because the girl named Beth, had been at a play and she got called to the place where her boss is at and Beth and her friends, John and Ralph, went on there mission to find these 3 guys that were planning on killing the king.
As I said the plot twist is my favorite part( I have already explained it in the first part.). I am going to tell a summary of the story. In the beginning Beth is at a play and she gets called to her manager back at his castle and has to go on a mission. In the middle they have found the first guy but he is drunk as they found him, so they follow him home. After he gets home and snuggled in they try and break into his house. As Ralph is trying to go in they capture him. Then all of the other try to go in and save him but get captured to, after a while Ralph has a plan and saves them and they run very fast to there masters office. In the end, they have found 2/3 people and get find the other one at a play were Beth was suppose to be but couldn't make it. The person they find was actually in the play. After they find her the king gives them a reward for saving him from getting killed.
I recommend this book to the age group of 8-15. I recommend it to this age group because there is killing and bad language that little kids should not be hearing about. My favorite part in this book is when Ralph gets captured because there is so much suspense and they don't know what to do or if he is gonna survive or not. I also liked when they escape because Ralph is hurt the most and he is the person that saves them. This book has a lot of suspense and good things so I enjoyed it a lot.
Women were not allowed to tread London’s stages until 1629, and the first to do so were booed from the stage. By 1664 women are accepted, and Beth Johnson appears regularly at the King’s Theater. The attractive fourteen-year old is sought out by audiences – and also by Alan Strange, King Charles II’s spymaster.
All good guys need a villain, and Beth’s troupe protects the king from the plots of Sir Henry Vale. That criminal mastermind was supposedly beheaded, but when his personal seal turns up on an encrypted note, there is yet another mystery to be solved.
Jo Macauley presents young readers with an entertaining series in Secrets & Spies. Plague depicts a grim year in London history – 1665 – when half the population is killed by bubonic plague. Life goes on in London during the plague. So do Vale’s plots, and Beth Johnson is called on to protect King Charles again. Ms. Macauley’s fast-moving series is a great (and non-graphic) way to introduce young readers to this period in English history.
4.6 stars !! Another great tale in the spy-world of Beth, John and Ralph! This was an interesting plot and I absolutely loved the development of the characters. I ended up reading it in one sitting, these books are definitely a quick read. This one is my second favorite in the series, but I still really recommend!