The Consequences of Fear
A Maisie Dobbs Novel
-
- USD 14.99
-
- USD 14.99
Descripción editorial
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
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.
October 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).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in the fall of 1941, bestseller Winspear's outstanding 16th Maisie Dobbs novel (after 2019's The American Agent) initially focuses on fleet-footed 12-year-old Freddie Hackett, who earns a few bob a week running government messages across London. One night, while racing across the city to deliver a message, Freddie witnesses a murder, but no one believes him, even when a body matching his description of the victim is pulled from the Thames—until Maisie's compassion for his plight prompts her to begin an investigation. Forensically trained Maisie has been vetting prospective agents for the Special Operations Executive to assess young recruits' psychological fitness for dangerous overseas assignments, and in Freddie she recognizes what would now be called post-traumatic stress. Could his psychological state have led him to imagine the violent encounter? The body is eventually identified as a Frenchman, and later, when a French SOE recruit dies mysteriously, Maisie discovers a connection between the two victims that stretches back to the previous war. Maisie and her loving family of supporting characters continue to evolve and grow in ways sure to win readers' hearts. Winspear is writing at the top of her game.
