“A female investigator every bit as brainy and battle-hardened as Lisbeth Salander.” — Maureen Corrigan, NPR’s Fresh Air, on Maisie DobbsSunday 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 … 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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Oh the weeping.
Each book gets tougher to read.
War is a horrible, horrible, thing. No matter what time frame it is in.
One of the best of the series.
So, so good! Each book in this series is all that a cozy mystery balanced against historical events and laced with wonderful character development should be.
For those of us who came of age reading the entire Nance Drew girl sleuth series, this is a great series of an early 20th century female nurse turned private investigator, with well described characters and historical details.
It’s Maisie Dobbs, there is no question on whether read or not. It is a MUST read!!
I have read all the Marie Dobbs books and loved everyone. Hoping there will be more books in this series.
This author and series are a favorite and wait eagerly for the next adventure. The era and attention to historical details along with a tight plot makes this series a great read.
This is the first Maisie Dobbs book I’ve read, and while I can enjoy most of the story as a stand-alone, I know I’m missing nuances in the relationships between long-standing series characters. Also after 12 previous books, Maisie has contacts in various agencies that all must have a backstory, and I have to take them for granted. That said, this book involved me effectively in much the same way TV series Foyle’s War involves me in mysteries and murders on the homefront. Anyone who enjoys British history and culture and period dramas of the World War years will enjoy this mystery. I expect I will search out other books in this series.
I’ve loved Jacqueline Winspear’s novels about Maisie Dobbs since her first book in the series. They are a great mystery with fascinating characters. I love how she weaves historical information about places & events into each book.
Read all of the Maisy Dobbs books and thoroughly enjoyed them. I recommend reading them in sequence
It’s a very Maisie Dobbs kind of book!
I have been in need of some serious escapism these past few weeks and when I was much younger, Agatha Christie was my go-to for escapism reading. I decided to stick with the same genre this time, and dove into Jacqueline Winspear’s In this Grave Hour, the second Maisie Dobbs novel I’ve read (and liked – really liked!). Although the circumstances are heavy – Maisie hires onto her latest murder case on the very day England declares war on Germany – there’s nothing too heavy or heady about this book.
So. The Belgian Embassy hires private investigator Maisie following the death of a Belgian refugee from “the last war,” who has lived quietly and worked hard right up until he was robbed and murdered in broad daylight, but with no witnesses. Having no leads and diminishing resources (the toll of the nascent war, already), Scotland Yard has given the case short shrift, but the Embassy wants answers…before there is another murder. (Which, c’mon, this being a murder mystery, you know there’s going to be.)
I’m realizing belatedly that, unlike Agatha Christie novels which had virtually no continuation of plot themes from one mystery to the next, Winspear has seemingly constructed a series, and what struck me initially as similarities between elements of the plot in both books is actually a continuation of the story. As I will undoubtedly work my way through more of Maisie, I’ll have to remember that for the future!
(This review was originally published at https://www.thisyearinbooks.com/2019/01/in-this-grave-hour-maisie-dobbs-novel.html)
I like all Winspear’s books about Maisie Dobbs
Enjoyed following Maisie’s Life for 49 years of her life. I read them in sequence which gave the series continuity. The author has done a lot of research as it is historical fiction which I enjoy.
This is the first series of books I’ve read dealing with the lives of those, especially women, who were involved in WW1. Maisie Dobbs is a psychologist and inquiry agent in England who uses her unique talents and skills in her cases, while reflecting on the effects of the war on those involved. She’s a strong woman!
PArt of the Maisie Dobbs series. I liked it.
I have read all of her books!
I love the background I get on this time period and how well written the book is to capture the essence of this time in history.
I love the whole Maisie Dobbs series. I’ve read them all and hope Jacqueline Winspear is at work on another book in the series.
I have read all the Maisy Dobbs series books and have enjoyed each one . They could be read as a stand alone but I have found then to be much more enjoyable reading them from the first to last in order. I always hate saying good bye when each new book is done.
I have enjoyed every book I’ve read in this series!