The next book in the Maisie Dobbs series began with such a shocker that I thought I had skipped a previous book in the series. The novel before this one ends happily with Maisie returned from India and marrying James. They are relocating to Canada, where James is to continue doing his bit for the possibility of war in the coming years by helping develop new defensive aircraft. Stop here if you are reading the series – spoiler alert – and rather a spoiler in many ways. The opening pages are set two years later and not only has James died in a test flight, but Maisie has lost the baby they were expecting. As when Elizabeth George killed off a favorite character in her Thomas Lynley series, I almost didn’t want to keep going further. Maisie retreats overseas (again) to lick her wounds and try to recover some emotional stability. However, a letter from her beloved father’s wife draws her back towards England to be with him. As she disembarks just a short way from her destination, on Gibraltar, and almost on a whim, she decides to stay awhile before continuing to dock in Southampton. Not surprisingly, she trips over a dead body and is drawn into more foreign intrigue. Next stop, the Spanish Civil War. A worthy, if sad, addition to the series, and a fascinating depiction of Gibraltarian life, about which I knew nothing. It is a feature of many of Winspear’s books that there is a backstory about a place, custom, or time that adds so much historical interest. 305 pp.
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