I probably was pre-disposed not to like this installment of the Maisie Dobbs series because I drove my Mom out to the St. Louis County Public Library to see the author and she had cancelled due to illness! Argh! (Belated note to self: always remember to call ahead and confirm that an event will take place as scheduled before driving more than 20 minutes away to attend said event! Duh!) Anyway, at the end of the last book Maisie had decided to close down her detective agency and travel to India. I was looking forward to reading about Maisie's experiences but the new book sums up her time there in a few sentences and skips ahead to Gibraltar during the Spanish Civil War. Wait, what? Winspear tells us via letters written to Maisie by various friends and family that Maisie has experienced a catastrophic personal loss. Maisie is so distraught that she cannot face returning to her home in England. Gibraltar acts as a kind of limbo for Maisie as she struggles to regain her purpose and the will to go on. 308 pages.
