On September third 1939, at 11:15, on a balmy Sunday,
Maisie Dobbs was listening to the wireless at her friend
Priscilla's home: Britain had declared war on Germany, and
remnants from the Great War are still affecting the
nation. Just a few moments later, Maisie is told there's a
phone call for her; who would know she was at Priscilla's?
Dr. Francesca Thomas knew. Maisie, a psychologist and
investigator, had worked with Francesca before on a secret
mission, and Francesca needs her help. After the Great
War, Belgians refugees had stayed in Britain, among those
Dr. Thomas, and a man has been found dead, shot execution-
style in London: Frederick Addens, a Belgian refugee from
the Great War. Scotland Yard has dropped the
investigation, they have nothing to go on, but Francesca
wants the killer found. Maisie accepts, for a fee, and she
has barely started looking into the murder, when another
former Belgian war refugee is found dead, murdered in
exactly the same way. Maisie trusts Francesca, but she is
sure the Doctor has not told her everything she knows.
Jacqueline Winspear had been on my radar for a long time,
and I could kick myself that IN THIS GRAVE HOUR is the
first book I've read from this wonderful author. WWII is a
period I know quite well, and Ms. Winspear's research is
so outstanding that I learned quite a few details, and so
much more about everyday life in 1939 London. Ms.
Winspear's depiction of the era is really astounding: one
would think the author has actually lived it. The
characters are as richly described as everything else, be
it Maisie, her family and friends, her staff: Sandra and
the wonderful Billy, DI Caldwell; they all appear as vivid
as photographs. I felt involved in the story right from
the start, in part because it IN THIS GRAVE HOUR is
wonderfully historically accurate, I knew I could relax
and that there wouldn't be any gaffes, but the story is
also very compelling.
IN THIS GRAVE HOUR is not fast-paced, it would not suit
the context, but the pace remains steady throughout, as
Maisie investigates a puzzling series of murders. The
author injects bit and pieces from the past in such a way
that I never felt as if I was missing something in
Maisie's timeline -- although I will be picking up those
previous books as soon as I can. The writing is very
elegant and flows seamlessly, the dialogues are superb and
tailor-made to suit every character, down to the era's
idioms. I was completely immersed in this fabulous novel,
and I hope Maisie's adventures will continue for a long
time to come.
Sunday September 3rd 1939. At the moment Prime Minister
Neville Chamberlain broadcasts to the nation Britain’s
declaration of war with Germany, a senior Secret Service
agent breaks into Maisie Dobbs' flat to await her return.
Dr. Francesca Thomas has an urgent assignment for Maisie: to
find the killer of a man who escaped occupied Belgium as a
boy, some twenty-three years earlier during the Great War.
In a London shadowed by barrage balloons, bomb shelters and
the threat of invasion, within days another former Belgian
refugee is found murdered. And as Maisie delves deeper into
the killings of the dispossessed from the “last war," a new
kind of refugee — an evacuee from London — appears in
Maisie's life. The little girl billeted at Maisie’s home in
Kent does not, or cannot, speak, and the authorities do not
know who the child belongs to or who might have put her on
the “Operation Pied Piper” evacuee train. They know only
that her name is Anna.
As Maisie’s search for the killer escalates, the country
braces for what is to come. Britain is approaching its
gravest hour — and Maisie could be nearing a crossroads of
her own.
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