The Consequences of Fear

Starred review from January 18, 2021
Set in the fall of 1941, bestseller Winspear’s outstanding 16th Maisie Dobbs novel (after 2019’s The American Agent) initially focuses on fleet-footed 12-year-old Freddie Hackett, who earns a few bob a week running government messages across London. One night, while racing across the city to deliver a message, Freddie witnesses a murder, but no one believes him, even when a body matching his description of the victim is pulled from the Thames—until Maisie’s compassion for his plight prompts her to begin an investigation. Forensically trained Maisie has been vetting prospective agents for the Special Operations Executive to assess young recruits’ psychological fitness for dangerous overseas assignments, and in Freddie she recognizes what would now be called post-traumatic stress. Could his psychological state have led him to imagine the violent encounter? The body is eventually identified as a Frenchman, and later, when a French SOE recruit dies mysteriously, Maisie discovers a connection between the two victims that stretches back to the previous war. Maisie and her loving family of supporting characters continue to evolve and grow in ways sure to win readers’ hearts. Winspear is writing at the top of her game. Agent: Amy Rennert, Amy Rennert Agency.