Jacqueline Winspear – författare

1945. For many in London, the peace feels harder than the war. Years of devastating Luftwaffe bombing have obliterated stretches of the city. Against this backdrop, psychologist-investigator Maisie Dobbs is drawn into the plight of a group of young squatters at a Belgravia mansion. Maisie's attempt to help them brings to light a decades-old mystery concerning her first husband who was killed while flying an experimental fighter aircraft. The deeply personal investigation also leads her to a ghostly figure who is grappling with the weight of his conscience and the part he played during the war. This final instalment in the internationally bestselling series will challenge so much of what Maisie understands about her life and forces her to question what she has always accepted to be true.

October 1942. Jo Hardy, an Air Transport Auxilliary ferry pilot, is delivering a Spitfire to Biggin Hill Aerodrome, when she has the terrifying experience of coming under fire from the ground. In a bid to find out who was trying to take down her aircraft, she returns on foot to the area, and discovers an African American soldier bound and gagged in an old barn. A few days later another ferry pilot crashes and is killed in the same area of Kent. Although the death has been attributed to 'pilot error' Jo believes there is a connection between all three events - and she wants desperately to help the soldier, who is now in the custody of American military police.Jo is advised to take her suspicions to Maisie Dobbs. As the psychologist-investigator delves into the case, she discovers the attempt to take down ferry pilots and the plight of the black American soldier are inextricably linked with the visit to Britain by the First Lady of the United States, Eleanor Roosevelt. Maisie must work with speed to uncover the depth of connection, to save the life of the president's wife and a soldier caught in the crosshairs of those who would see them both dead.

It's early 1938, and Maisie Dobbs is back in England. On a fine yet chilly morning, as she walks towards Fitzroy Square - a place of many memories - she is intercepted by Brian Huntley and Robert MacFarlane of the Secret Service. The German government has agreed to release a British subject from prison, but only if he is handed over to a family member. Because the man's wife is bedridden and his daughter has been killed in an accident, the Secret Service wants Maisie - who bears a striking resemblance to the daughter - to retrieve the man from Dachau, on the outskirts of Munich.The British government is not alone in its interest in Maisie's travel plans. Her nemesis - the man she holds responsible for her husband's death - has learned of her journey, and is also desperate for her help.Traveling into the heart of Nazi Germany, Maisie encounters unexpected dangers - and finds herself questioning whether it's time to return to the work she loved. But the Secret Service may have other ideas . . .