April 1, 2024
In the wistful final installment of Winspear’s bestselling Maisie Dobbs series (after A Sunlit Weapon), the gumshoe psychologist confronts postwar chaos in 1945 London. At the funeral of her former father-in-law, Maisie hears about people squatting in his London home, and offers to investigate. When she arrives, she finds that one occupant is the son of an old friend; he’s emaciated and traumatized after being held in a Japanese incarceration camp. The other four are young orphans trained to work with the civilian army in the event of a German invasion who’ve gone into hiding after witnessing a murder. Based on the orphans’ timid testimony, Maisie sets out to investigate the killing, and then discovers a packet of old letters that reveal new information about her long-dead former husband. Winspear renders the physical and emotional wreckage of postwar England with her usual sensitivity, and though the narrative gets a bit bogged down in reminiscences about Maisie’s previous exploits, the author’s fans are unlikely to mind. It’s a fitting, heartwarming conclusion to a beloved series. Agent: Amy Rennert, Amy Rennert Agency.
May 1, 2024
Winspear presents the eighteenth and final book in her internationally best-selling Maisie Dobbs series that began in 2003. In the very first novel, neatly titled Maisie Dobbs, Maisie remarks, "we only like our heroes out in the street when they are looking their best . . . not when they're showing us the wounds they suffered on our behalf." She was referencing WWI survivors. Her story spans the years 1910-45, and now, at its conclusion, Maisie finds herself dealing with many who have been terribly wounded, physically and mentally, by WWII. Four adolescent orphans damaged by their experiences are squatting in a vacant mansion in London, and when Maisie investigates, she discovers they are caring for a recently demobbed soldier on death's doorstep. She also uncovers a decades-old secret about her deceased husband that puts her beliefs in him and his family to the test. Winspear delivers a most elegant and satisfying resolution. In her opening letter to the reader, she writes, "I've endeavored to create a body of work that is in equal measure a family saga and mystery series." She succeeded beyond everyone's expectations. It's a privilege to experience life with Winspear's determined and maximally resilient woman protagonist.
COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
May 1, 2024
Farewell, Maisie Dobbs. Once a maid in Lady Rowan Compton's household, then a university student, a nurse, and an agent of the British Secret Service, Maisie has blossomed into a psychologist and private investigator. Her first husband, James Compton, died while test-flying an experimental aircraft. The end of World War II finds her living in the Dower House of the Compton estate with her second husband, Mark Scott--an American diplomat--and their adopted daughter, Anna, and comforting her former mother-in-law, Lady Rowan, who's just lost her own spouse. When she hears there are squatters living in the Comptons' London house, Maisie heads to Belgravia, where she finds four teenagers in residence along with an ailing Will Beale, the son of Maisie's business partner, who survived a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp. Checking with her old friend DCI Robbie MacFarlane, whose help she'd asked in finding the previously missing Will, she gets a bad feeling about Robbie's interest in the squatters. Worried about the youngsters, who were part of some secret government project, Maisie talks them into letting her into the house to help Will. When they admit they witnessed the murder of a Nazi sympathizer that the government wants covered up, she moves the group to a safer place. Her investigation of the murder discloses a mass of nasty secrets. One of the teens found a packet of letters under the floorboards of the Compton house belonging to one of Maisie's fellow maids, killed in an explosion, who had a child with James when they were very young. Finding that child, who was put up for adoption, may be the most challenging task Maisie's ever undertaken. A fitting finale to a marvelously entertaining series full of finely drawn characters often scarred by the horrors of war.
COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Starred review from April 19, 2024
In Winspear's final Maisie Dobbs novel (following A Sunlit Weapon), World War II is over, but the United Kingdom is in recovery mode. Maisie is assisting a family with the disposal of some of their properties. When they hear of squatters living in the Belgravia mansion the family evacuated during the war, Maisie volunteers to deal with them. The four young squatters have taken in a wounded soldier--who turns out to be Will, Maisie's partner's son. He was a prisoner of war in Japan and in bad condition physical and mentally. The four teenage squatters are actually trained to be civilian soldiers in case of a German invasion. and they lead Maisie to a murder in Kent. The biggest mystery to conclude this series is when Maisie discovers that her deceased first husband, James Compton, fathered a child before the First World War. Maisie tracks down this man and must decide if she will tell him who he really is. This is an emotional and satisfying conclusion to a long running and beloved series. VERDICT A must-buy to complete Winspear's great series. The satisfying and emotional ending is perfect for fans.--Kristen Stewart
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