Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Maisie Dobbs--"a female investigator every bit as brainy and battle-hardened as Lisbeth Salander" (Maureen Corrigan, NPR's Fresh Air), faces danger and intrigue on the home front during World War II in this poignant entry (#14) in Jacqueline Winspear's New York Times bestselling series--"a series that seems to get better with every entry" (Tom Holland, Wall Street Journal).
Spring 1940. With Britons facing what has become known as "the Bore War"--nothing much seems to have happened yet--Maisie Dobbs is asked to investigate the disappearance of a local lad, a young apprentice craftsman working on a "hush-hush" government contract. As Maisie's inquiry reveals a possible link to the London underworld, another mother is worried about a missing son--but this time the boy in question is one beloved by Maisie.
As USA Today \'s Robert Bianco says, "with clarity and economy, Winspear lays the historical groundwork. . . . The setting matters, but what may matter more is the lovely, sometimes poetic way Winspear pushes her heroine forward. . . . May she shine on the literary scene for many books to come."
Synopsis
Finalist for the Inaugural Sue Grafton Memorial Award
Maisie Dobbs--one of the most complex and admirable characters in contemporary fiction (Richmond Times Dispatch)--faces danger and intrigue on the home front during World War II.
During the months following Britain's declaration of war on Germany, Maisie Dobbs investigates the disappearance of a young apprentice working on a hush-hush government contract. As news of the plight of thousands of soldiers stranded on the beaches of France is gradually revealed to the general public, and the threat of invasion rises, another young man beloved by Maisie makes a terrible decision that will change his life forever.
Maisie's investigation leads her from the countryside of rural Hampshire to the web of wartime opportunism exploited by one of the London underworld's most powerful men, in a case that serves as a reminder of the inextricable link between money and war. Yet when a final confrontation approaches, she must acknowledge the potential cost to her future--and the risk of destroying a dream she wants very much to become reality.
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New York Times Book Review