A Dangerous Place

After spending time in India, Maisie starts out for England to be with her aging father. However, she's not really ready to return home and impulsively leaves the ship in Gibraltar. Orlagh Cassidy offers a quieter Maisie, a Maisie suffering emotionally after a series of personal tragedies. One night in Gibraltar, she stumbles upon the body of a murder victim. Unhappy with the police inquiry, she's drawn into the case. Cassidy's sensitive interpretation enhances characters and details in a Gibraltar overrun with refugees fleeing the horrors of the Spanish Civil War. Cassidy makes the tension palpable as German planes bomb Guernica, while her insightful performance develops the thought-provoking ideas in Winspear's 11th Maisie Dobbs adventure. Series fans will be delighted. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

May 18, 2015
Maisie Dobbs suffers a surplus of tragedy in Winspear's 11th novel featuring the London investigator and psychologist (after 2013's Leaving Everything Most Loved). Following an enigmatic preface set in 1937 Gibraltar, in which Maisie is under surveillance after discovering a corpse, the action flashes back to 1934. Within just a few pages, spanning several years, Maisie is engaged, married, and widowed, and gives birth to a dead child. It's no wonder that the still-fresh wounds keep her from returning home to England as she tries to find the resolve to carry on and "find the person she used to be." Back in the present, Maisie literally stumbles over the corpse of photographer Sebastian Babayoff while on an evening stroll, possibly disturbing the killer before he could complete the robbery that the local police believe to have been his motive. Taking a different view, Maisie comes to conclude that the dead man captured an image on his camera that was dangerous to others. The plot works better as a historical novel depicting pre-WWII turmoil than as a whodunit. Agent: Amy Rennert, Amy Rennert Agency.

March 15, 2015

Admirers of Winspear's Agatha Award-winning series may be surprised that this 11th installment jumps the psychologist/private investigator's narrative forward several years. At the close of 2013's Leaving Everything Most Loved, Maisie was at a crossroads, shuttering her London office and preparing a journey to India while weighing a marriage proposal from her dashing lover, James Compton. The new book opens four years later in 1937, with a now-widowed Maisie devastated by James's tragic death and her ensuing miscarriage. Reluctant to return to England, she's temporarily taken refuge in Gibraltar, a military outpost and hotbed of geopolitical intrigue. There she stumbles upon the body of a murdered photographer and steps into a mystery touching the local Sephardic Jewish community and nearby turmoil of the Spanish Civil War. Within the tumult, the always introspective Maisie uses her work to regain a measure of inner peace. VERDICT After hinting at change for several books, the series finally appears to have passed a crucial turning point as it nears the precipice of World War II. While some readers may wonder at the way Winspear handled her heroine's doomed offscreen marriage, many will embrace the arresting period detail and emotional resonance of seeing a new, if heartbreaking, chapter of Maisie's life unfold. [See Prepub Alert, 9/8/14.]--Annabelle Mortensen, Skokie P.L., IL

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2014

Unflappable psychologist/investigator Maisie Dobbs is on a spiritual quest in India when she receives a letter informing her that her father is fading. On the return home, she pauses in Gibraltar, which is overrun by refugees from Spain's civil war, and finds herself investigating the murder of a local Sephardic Jew. Maisie is getting even more popular, with recent books surging in sales; a 100,000-copy first printing and a nine-city tour.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 15, 2015
Still reeling from personal tragedies, intrepid nurse-turned-private investigator Maisie Dobbs becomes embroiled in a murder case in Gibraltar on the eve of the Spanish Civil War. Following the death of her husband, Viscount James Compton, in a Canadian aviation accident and her ensuing miscarriage, Maisie traveled to India rather than return home to England, despite pleas from family and friends. Though she initially feels strong enough, both mentally and physically, to face London again in the spring of 1937, Maisie has a change of heart midvoyage and decamps in Gibraltar, a military garrison and an international outpost for those on both ends of the political spectrum. With nearby Spain on the brink of civil war, tensions run high, and support-both financial and in the form of ammunition-funnels steadily across the increasingly porous border. As often happens, Maisie stumbles-this time literally-upon a corpse and isn't satisfied with the seemingly cursory police investigation. The dead man is identified as Sebastian Babayoff, a photographer and member of the local Sephardic Jewish community. Maisie, immersing herself in Gibraltar life by staying in a rooming house rather than the posh tourist-oriented hotel, finds Babayoff's second camera near the crime scene and begins her own investigation. Winspear (Leaving Everything Most Loved, 2013, etc.) elegantly weaves historical events with Maisie's own suffering-the bombing of Guernica is particularly well-done-all while constructing an engaging whodunit. Fans of this long-running series will welcome Maisie's return in this 11th installment while feeling the pain of her losses as deeply as if they were their own.

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Starred review from February 15, 2015
Four years have passed in this series since Maisie Dobbs faced the ultimatum of her lover, James Compton, in London in 1933. Letters and news reports recount that Maisie accepted James' proposal and wed, giving up her work as a psychologist and investigator and finding great contentment for a year until James died in a test plane crash and she lost their unborn child. Having traveled to India to find peace after tragedy, Maisie is going home but still can't face the memories England holds, so she disembarks in Gibraltar, a dangerous place in 1937 with the Spanish civil war just across the border. During an evening walk, Maisie finds the body of photographer Sebastian Babayoff. Feeling it's her responsibility to find the truth about the murder, she starts to work, which lifts her near-suicidal depression. Things become more complicated when she finds herself the object of investigation, then stumbles on dangerous activities that support the Spanish Republican forces. This eleventh entry in the Maisie Dobbs series, with enough backstory to stand alone, shows the same meticulous research that grounds these books so firmly in their time and place, along with moving life changes that further humanize the intrepid protagonist. Another winner from Winspear.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)