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September 1941. While on a delivery, young Freddie Hackett, a message runner for a government office, witnesses an argument that ends in murder. Crouching in the doorway of a bombed-out house, Freddie waits until the coast is clear. But when he arrives at the delivery address, he's shocked to come face to face with the killer.
Dismissed by the police when he attempts to report the crime, Freddie goes in search of a woman he once met when delivering a message: Maisie Dobbs. While Maisie believes the boy and wants to help, she must maintain extreme caution: she's working secretly for the Special Operations Executive, assessing candidates for crucial work with the French resistance. Her two worlds collide when she spots the killer in a place she least expects. She soon realizes she's been pulled into the orbit of a man who has his own reasons to kill—reasons that go back to the last war.
"As Maisie becomes entangled in a power struggle between Britain's intelligence efforts in France and the work of Free French agents operating across Europe, she must also contend with the lingering question of Freddie Hackett's state of mind. What she uncovers could hold disastrous consequences for all involved in this compelling chapter of the "series that seems to get better with every entry" WALL STREET JOURNAL
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Creators
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Series
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Publisher
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Release date
July 1, 2021 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781004044207
- File size: 306978 KB
- Duration: 10:39:32
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Narrator Orlagh Cassidy returns to transport listeners back to bomb-shattered London of 1941. The author's attention to the details of time, place, and speech and Cassidy's spot-on performance provide an engaging authenticity to this listening experience. In her investigation of a murder witnessed by a boy, Maisie Dobbs finds herself in a complex situation involving British and French intelligence agents. Dobbs struggles between her duty to serve her country and her dedication to her adopted child. Cassidy excels at performing the emotionally fraught dialogue, which shines a light on the external and internal scars of war and their ripple effects on family. Leveraging her talents for accents, pace, and intonation, Cassidy differentiates the many characters young and old. A deeply moving listening experience. E.Q. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine -
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.
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