As Europe buckles under Nazi occupation, Maisie Dobbs investigates a
possible murder that threatens devastating repercussions for Britain's
war efforts in this latest installment in the New York Times
bestselling mystery series.
September 1941. While on a delivery, young Freddie Hackett, a message
runner for a government office, witnesses an argument that ends in
murder. Crouching in the doorway of a bombed-out house, Freddie waits
until the coast is clear. But when he arrives at the delivery address,
he's shocked to come face to face with the killer.
Dismissed by the police when he attempts to report the crime, Freddie
goes in search of a woman he once met when delivering a message: Maisie
Dobbs. While Maisie believes the boy and wants to help, she must
maintain extreme caution: she's working secretly for the Special
Operations Executive, assessing candidates for crucial work with the
French resistance. Her two worlds collide when she spots the killer in a
place she least expects. She soon realizes she's been pulled into the
orbit of a man who has his own reasons to kill--reasons that go back to
the last war.
As Maisie becomes entangled in a power struggle between Britain's
intelligence efforts in France and the work of Free French agents
operating across Europe, she must also contend with the lingering
question of Freddie Hackett's state of mind. What she uncovers could
hold disastrous consequences for all involved in this compelling chapter
of the "series that seems to get better with every entry" (Wall Street
Journal).
