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Published Feb 2009
320 pages
Genre: Mysteries
Publication Information
It’s Christmas Eve 1931. On the way to see a client, Maisie Dobbs witnesses a man commit suicide on a busy London street. The following day, the prime minister’s office receives a letter threatening a massive loss of life if certain demands are not met—and the writer mentions Maisie by name. After being questioned and cleared by Detective Chief Superintendent Robert MacFarlane of Scotland Yard’s elite Special Branch, she is drawn into MacFarlane’s personal fiefdom as a special adviser on the case. Meanwhile, Billy Beale, Maisie’s trusted assistant, is once again facing tragedy as his wife, who has never recovered from the death of their young daughter, slips further into melancholia’s abyss. Soon Maisie becomes involved in a race against time to find a man who proves he has the knowledge and will to inflict death and destruction on thousands of innocent people. And before this harrowing case is over, Maisie must navigate a darkness not encountered since she was a nurse in wards filled with shell-shocked men.
"Maisie's speculative guesses .... have less logical grounding than traditional puzzle fans might prefer ... Still, Winspear does her usual superb job of portraying London between the world wars." - Publishers Weekly.
"The lamentation over economic crisis, terrorism and traumatized veterans feels both true to its setting and disquietingly contemporary." - Kirkus Reviews.
"Starred Review. Winspear breathes new life into this solid series, but the novel has enough background to make it suitable for new readers as well as highly satisfying fare for established fans." - Booklist.
"Winspear has written an intriguing psychological mystery about the damage war inflicts on a person's soul, as well as a thought-provoking look at the lengths to which the hopeless and mentally unstable might go to be heard." - Library Journal.
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo: Stephanie Mohan
Jacqueline Winspear is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The Consequences of Fear, The American Agent, and To Die but Once, as well as thirteen other bestselling Maisie Dobbs novels and The Care and Management of Lies, a Dayton Literary Peace Prize finalist. Jacqueline has also published two nonfiction books, What Would Maisie Do? and a memoir, This Time Next Year We'll Be Laughing. Originally from the United Kingdom, she divides her time between California and the Pacific Northwest.
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