To Die But Once (Maisie Dobbs 14)

To Die But Once by Jacqueline Winspear is the fourteenth book in the Maisie Dobbs series - an historical mystery series featuring a psychologist and private investigator in London.

It is 1940 and the British Army is being forced out of France by the invading Nazis. In the UK, children who have been evacuated to the country are trickling home as no bombs have (yet) been dropped on London. Young men and women are working for the war effort.

Maisie's neighbors come to her about their son Joe. He is working with a painting crew on a government contract, painting on the Air Force bases in the South. But he has not called. They are worried. He is not the kind of young man who would worry his family on purpose.

Maisie's investigation will reveal an underworld connection - someone making a profit while putting the soldiers at risk.

Winspear captures the time period and the tensions, worries and fear that plague a society at war - and on the brink of invasion. Her characters are well created and her stories based on family tales of the wars. For anyone who likes to read, this series is a must.

Winspear, Jacqueline. (2018). To Die But Once. New York: Harper.