In This Grave Hour (Maisie Dobbs #13)

In This Grave Hour by Jacqueline Winspear is the thirteenth book in her Maisie Dobbs series. Maisie is an investigator and psychologist.  This may be my favorite book series.

September 3rd, 1939 England declared war against Germany. When Maisie returns home from her best friend’s house where they listened to the radio announcement from the king, a Doctor Thomas is waiting for her. Maisie knows her to be a spy. Dr. Thomas wants Maisie to investigate the death of a Belgian. England took in many Belgian refugees during WWI. Some of them stayed. But the attitude toward other cultures within England has changed since the war started. Dr. Thomas is concerned that the police are not looking in the right place, if at all. Maisie takes the case.

At the same time, operation Pied Piper is put into effect. Children in London, a city likely to be bombed by the Nazis, are being evacuated to the countryside. Maisie’s estate has gotten three children. Her father is going to get the two boys working with horses. But the small girl who doesn’t speak is a mystery. She came without any paperwork. None of the other children know where she came from.

Winspear is a brilliant writer. Her books will grab you from the first page. Plus, if you listen to the firstbook on audiobook read by Rita Barrington will put the wonderful accents in your head for the rest of the series!

Winspear, Jacqueline. (2017). In This Grave Hour. New York: Harper.

A Pirate's Heart

A Pirate’s Heart by Catherine Friend is a lesbian romance for fans of both pirates and librarians!

Librarian Emma Boyd works at a rare book library. She is overworked and has little time for a social life but she know just about everything there is to know about the pirate captain Tomasina Farris who disappeared in 1715.  So when a thief steals a map from her collection she wants to help catch the person who did it – someone who may be searching for Tommy Farris’s lost treasure.

Investigator Randi Marx does not want help from any stuffy librarian. She is a map expert in her own right and works for one of the best private investigation firms in the country. When it is suggested that she and Emma go to the other libraries where there have been map thefts, she is less than thrilled.

Friend has combined two stories – one of Tommy Farris in the height of piracy in the Caribbean – and a chase across the US and a search for a lost treasure. This is great romance story.

Friend, Catherine. (2008). A Pirate’s Heart. Valley Falls, NY: Bold Strokes Books.