"Maisie will start working for the Secret Service as she investigates the impact of fascism"
Reviewed by Leanne Davis
Posted April 24, 2011
Mystery Amateur Sleuth | Mystery Historical
It's the summer of 1932 and Maisie has several
investigations going on. Her friend Sandra's
husband dies in a mysterious accident. She is asked by the
Secret Service to take a position as philosophy instructor
to monitor activities at a small college. She is also in
the process of purchasing a house for her employee, Billy
Beale without letting him know that it is for him. Her
lover is supposed to be in Canada but she gets letters from
him that are postmarked London. When the head of the college where Maisie is teaching is
murdered, she will be told to leave the investigation to
Scotland Yard. Maisie will find that hard since her
investigation keeps bringing her back to Greville Liddicote
and a book that he published during World War I which
changed lives. Maisie's razor sharp mind will find connections that no one
else will pick up on. Her investigation will expose her to
the students who actively support Adolf Hitler and his
fascist ideals. Usually, I prefer comedic mysteries but I've been fascinated
by Maisie Dobbs and her life since the first book came out.
The reader will be exposed to the horrors of World War I and
the impact it had on Britain as they read the series. This
latest is a convoluted tale which forces Maisie to leave
more of their every day business to Billy. Through Maisie's
eyes, the reader will see the beginning of the events that
lead to the second World War and learn about Maisie's fears
for the future.
SUMMARY
Maisie Dobbs's first assignment for the British Secret
Service takes her undercover to Cambridge as a professor—and
leads to the investigation of a web of activities being
conducted by the emerging Nazi Party. In the summer
of 1932, Maisie Dobbs's career takes an exciting new turn
when she accepts an undercover assignment directed by
Scotland Yard's Special Branch and the Secret Service.
Posing as a junior lecturer, she is sent to a private
college in Cambridge to monitor any activities "not in the
interests of His Majesty's government." When the
college's controversial pacifist founder and principal,
Greville Liddicote, is murdered, Maisie is directed to stand
back as Detective Chief Superintendent Robert MacFarlane and
Detective Chief Inspector Richard Stratton spearhead the
investigation. She soon discovers, however, that the
circumstances of Liddicote's death appear inextricably
linked to the suspicious comings and goings of faculty and
students under her surveillance. To unravel this web,
Maisie must overcome a reluctant Secret Service, discover
shameful hidden truths about Britain's conduct during the
Great War, and face off against the rising powers of the
Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei—the
Nazi Party—in Britain. As the storm clouds of World
War II gather on the horizon, this pivotal chapter in the
life of Maisie Dobbs foreshadows new challenges and powerful
enemies facing the psychologist and investigator—and will
engage new readers and loyal fans of this "outstanding"
series (Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review).
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