Part of Maisie Dobbs, book 18
First published 2024
London, 1945. Maisie Dobbs visits a vacant Belgravia mansion on behalf of its owners, who fled the city during the Blitz. Inside she finds four teenage orphans who have made the empty house their home. A sick former soldier has joined them, struggling with his wartime experiences. Maisie wants to help both the young people and the ailing veteran. Her investigation uncovers secrets about her first husband James Compton, who died testing an experimental fighter plane years earlier. As she digs into James's hidden past, Maisie must confront painful memories she has long avoided. The case forces her to question truths she never doubted before. This final investigation opens new possibilities for Maisie's future while revealing the struggles ordinary British people faced as World War II ended.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, mystery, adult-fiction
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: London, Belgravia
Period: 1945
342 pages · Hardcover · Soho Crime
Content warnings: mental-illness, war