A Dangerous Place

Maisie Dobbs Mysteries, Book 11

By: Jacqueline Winspear

Narrated by: Orlagh Cassidy

Four years after she set sail from England, leaving everything she most loved behind, Maisie Dobbs at last returns only to find herself in a dangerous place....

In Jacqueline Winspear's powerful story of political intrigue and personal tragedy, a brutal murder in the British garrison town of Gilbraltar leads Maisie into a web of lies, deceit, and peril.

Spring 1937. In the four years since she left England, Maisie Dobbs has experienced love, contentment, stability - and the deepest tragedy a woman can endure. Now all she wants is the peace she believes she might find by returning to India. But her sojourn in the hills of Darjeeling is cut short when her stepmother summons her home to England; her aging father, Frankie Dobbs, is not getting any younger.

But on a ship bound for England, Maisie realizes she isn't ready to return. Against the wishes of the captain, who warns her, "You will be alone in a most dangerous place," she disembarks in Gibraltar. Though she is on her own, Maisie is far from alone: the British garrison town is teeming with refugees fleeing a brutal civil war across the border in Spain.

Yet the danger is very real. Days after Maisie's arrival, a photographer and member of Gibraltar's Sephardic Jewish community, Sebastian Babayoff, is murdered, and Maisie becomes entangled in the case, drawing the attention of the British Secret Service. Under the suspicious eye of a British agent, Maisie is pulled deeper into political intrigue on "the Rock" - arguably Britain's most important strategic territory - and renews an uneasy acquaintance in the process. At a crossroads between her past and her future, Maisie must choose a direction, knowing that England is, for her, an equally dangerous place but in quite a different way.

©2015 Jacqueline Winspear (P)2015 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"[Narrator Orlagh] Cassidy makes the tension palpable as German planes bomb Guernica, while her insightful performance develops the thought-provoking ideas in Winspear's 11th Maisie Dobbs adventure. Series fans will be delighted." (AudioFile)

So glad to have Maisie back!

I've missed Maisie and was so glad to have her back. Having said that, I miss her return to solving cases as she has in the past. However, we see how strong she is to suffer all the sorrows she has and to find a new, perhaps short lived, purpose in her life.

Additionally, Maisie would not be Maisie without the narration of Orlagh Cassidy.

All in all glad to have her back and I look forward to more.

LOVED IT

My favorite book in the series by far! Her response to her losses is such a Maisie response! It is slow burning as Maisie has to realize how she once again has to work through her losses. I love the setting and the mystery is subtle. Wish we could read a book about her India

An interesting change to the Maidy series

I was surprised by this story. The continuous build up of plot through previous books reaching a climax early in the story and the tumbling, aftermath leading to a new direction.

This is a transition book and now to read the next one in the series.

The narrator was not quite up to her previous readings, with some words halted or stretched.

This might be from algarithym stretching a word during playback. It just wasn't the usual silky, smooth cadence I am used to. It was rare, maybe 3 times, but it did make me pause.

Other than that technical hiccup, an interesting story line, and a new direction for the character.

Excellent addition to the series

I really enjoyed this book! The story and emotions were layered. I will admit I cried a little and found the writing so beautiful at times. I was interesting to have Maisie working on a case in foreign territory. I highly recommend this book.

Best yet

The reader captures Maisie's melancholy as well as her dignity. Wins pear takes us into Gibraltar during the Spanish Civil War, revealing details of that time and place that most of us know nothing of. This seems to me the best one yet.

Once again, a lot of moving parts...

Maisie Dobbs gets more complicated by the minute. She's in a dark place and grieving makes her reckless. I'll be glad when she gets back to London town. Looking forward to the next book.

WHY!!!???????

I almost stopped listening after the first half hour. My heart was broken. But I figured if Mazi was going to endure… then so could I. The story itself was just ok… but if you are a fan of the series then you know so much of the reason we love it is because of Mazi herself.

Maisie on the Rock

I can see that some listeners aren't so happy with the "grown up" . . . hard hit Maisie . . . with the spunk knocked out of her . . . seeking refuge in Gibraltar . . . not yet able to face going home to her father and in-laws, after suffering the loss of her husband and newborn child . . . but I still love her . . . wounds and all . . . and my heart broke with her, knowing that grief is such a private thing . . . and when one is so broken, no one can tell that person how to mend . . . it is a long journey . . . and not to be judged . . . and work is many times a great distraction, a way to keep one from wallowing in their own tears . . . As in all the Maisie Dobbs stories, A Dangerous Place is a fascinating look at the history of what was happening in 1937 . . . in Spain and Gibraltar . . . the Spanish Civil war had began in 1936, with many Spanish refugees entering Gibraltar . . . Gibraltar, under British rule, sided with the Nationalists in the war, while the working class sided with the Republicans . . . with Maisie drawn into the situation after witnessing the murder of Sebastian Babayoff, she feels compelled to find his killer . . . and in doing so regains bits and pieces of herself . . . a different, yet quite interesting tale of Spain, Gibraltar and Maisie in the late 1930s . . .

Annoying mispronunciation

I love the Maisie Dobbs books. However, in this one that includes Jewish characters, the reader mispronounces a name (Chana) throughout the story. It's grating to the ear and unprofessional.

somewhat depressing.

Well read interesting but slow story. Took a while to get through this one. Not her best.