Leaving everything most loved, by Jacqueline Winspear

The next Maisie Dobbs novel is a pivotal moment in the series. Maisie is asked to find the killer of an Indian governess who accompanied the family she worked for in her home country to England but was evidently dismissed sometime after arriving. As Maisie begins her investigation, she is more and more worried about her faithful assistant Billy, who sustained serious injuries in the previous book and seems to be struggling with the aftereffects in addition to his long-standing problems that date back to physical and mental wounds sustained in World War I. Her more recent staff addition, the widowed Sandra, is also somewhat unsettled. And as for Maisie, she is still on the fence as to whether or not marriage to James Compton, with whom she is sharing her life, is the right next step in her life. Partly sparked by her new case involving Indian nationals, and partly inspired by her late mentor’s world travels, she wonders if she should chuck it all and hit the road for India. Stay tuned. 338 pp.