A Dangerous Place (Maisie Dobbs Series #11)

by Jacqueline Winspear

Overview

Spring 1937. In the four years since she left England, Maisie Dobbs has experienced love, contentment, stability—and the deepest tragedy a woman can endure. Now, all she wants is the peace she believes she might find by returning to India. But her sojourn is cut short when her stepmother summons her home to England: her aging father, Frankie Dobbs, is not getting any younger.

On a ship bound for England, Maisie realizes she isn't ready to return. Against the wishes of the captain who warns her, "You will be alone in a most dangerous place," she disembarks in Gibraltar. In the British garrison town at the southern tip of Spain, Maisie becomes enmeshed in the murder of Sebastian Babayoff, a photographer and member of Gibraltar's Sephardic Jewish community. Meanwhile, at a crossroads between her past and her future, she must choose a direction, knowing that England is for her, an equally dangerous plance, but in quite a different way.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062370358
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	03/17/2015
Series:	Maisie Dobbs Series
Edition description:	Large Print
Pages:	432
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Jacqueline Winspear is the author of the New York Times bestselling novels featuring Maisie Dobbs, a former World War I nurse turned investigator. Originally from the United Kingdom, Winspear now lives in California.

Hometown:

Ojai, California

Date of Birth:

April 30, 1955

Place of Birth:

Weald of Kent, England

Education:

The University of London¿s Institute of Education

Website:

http://www.jacquelinewinspear.com

Editorial Reviews

This eleventh entry in the Maisie Dobbs series, with enough backstory to stand alone, shows the same meticulous research that grounds these books so firmly in their time and place, along with moving life changes that further humanize the intrepid protagonist. Another winner from Winspear.

starred review Booklist

…the latest installment of Jacqueline Winspear's consistently interesting series…Try as she might to concentrate on a murder case, [Maisie's] drawn into a climate of political intrigue that repels her—but keeps the rest of us avidly reading.

The New York Times Book Review - Marilyn Stasio

05/18/2015
Maisie Dobbs suffers a surplus of tragedy in Winspear's 11th novel featuring the London investigator and psychologist (after 2013's Leaving Everything Most Loved). Following an enigmatic preface set in 1937 Gibraltar, in which Maisie is under surveillance after discovering a corpse, the action flashes back to 1934. Within just a few pages, spanning several years, Maisie is engaged, married, and widowed, and gives birth to a dead child. It's no wonder that the still-fresh wounds keep her from returning home to England as she tries to find the resolve to carry on and "find the person she used to be." Back in the present, Maisie literally stumbles over the corpse of photographer Sebastian Babayoff while on an evening stroll, possibly disturbing the killer before he could complete the robbery that the local police believe to have been his motive. Taking a different view, Maisie comes to conclude that the dead man captured an image on his camera that was dangerous to others. The plot works better as a historical novel depicting pre-WWII turmoil than as a whodunit. Agent: Amy Rennert, Amy Rennert Agency. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

With clarity and economy, Winspear lays the historical groundwork….The setting matters, but what may matter more is the lovely, sometimes poetic way Winspear pushes her heroine forward….May she shine on the literary scene for many books to come.

USA Today

Maisie would be interesting enough as a combination psychologist, empath and detective, but Winspear endows her with a rich backstory….With the clouds of war gathering, we can only expect that the British government will have uses for such a clever and effective woman....Interesting times ahead.

Bobbi Dumas

A welcome addition to the series….It’s an understatement to note that Ms. Winspear, as usual, has made excellent use of her background research.

Nora Levine

A gripping and moving story, filled with fully realized characters and spare but stylish prose….As always, Maisie—one of the most complex and admirable characters in contemporary fiction—fulfills expectations. And Winspear continues to dazzle as she once again excels in and transcends the genre.

Richmond Times-Dispatch

The latest installment of Jacqueline Winspear’s consistently interesting series….[Maisie’s] drawn into a climate of political intrigue that repels her-but keeps the rest of us avidly reading.

Marilyn Stasio

03/15/2015
Admirers of Winspear's Agatha Award-winning series may be surprised that this 11th installment jumps the psychologist/private investigator's narrative forward several years. At the close of 2013's Leaving Everything Most Loved, Maisie was at a crossroads, shuttering her London office and preparing a journey to India while weighing a marriage proposal from her dashing lover, James Compton. The new book opens four years later in 1937, with a now-widowed Maisie devastated by James's tragic death and her ensuing miscarriage. Reluctant to return to England, she's temporarily taken refuge in Gibraltar, a military outpost and hotbed of geopolitical intrigue. There she stumbles upon the body of a murdered photographer and steps into a mystery touching the local Sephardic Jewish community and nearby turmoil of the Spanish Civil War. Within the tumult, the always introspective Maisie uses her work to regain a measure of inner peace. VERDICT After hinting at change for several books, the series finally appears to have passed a crucial turning point as it nears the precipice of World War II. While some readers may wonder at the way Winspear handled her heroine's doomed offscreen marriage, many will embrace the arresting period detail and emotional resonance of seeing a new, if heartbreaking, chapter of Maisie's life unfold. [See Prepub Alert, 9/8/14.]—Annabelle Mortensen, Skokie P.L., IL

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