Genre Fiction
![Jacqueline Winspear - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_a_jacqueline_winspear.jpg)
The Consequences of Fear: A Maisie Dobbs Novel (Maisie Dobbs, 16)
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
As Europe buckles under Nazi occupation, Maisie Dobbs investigates a possible murder that threatens devastating repercussions for Britain's war efforts in this latest installment in the New York Times bestselling mystery series.
October 1941. While on a delivery, young Freddie Hackett, a message runner for a government office, witnesses an argument that ends in murder. Crouching in the doorway of a bombed-out house, Freddie waits until the coast is clear. But when he arrives at the delivery address, he's shocked to come face to face with the killer.
Dismissed by the police when he attempts to report the crime, Freddie goes in search of a woman he once met when delivering a message: Maisie Dobbs. While Maisie believes the boy and wants to help, she must maintain extreme caution: she's working secretly for the Special Operations Executive, assessing candidates for crucial work with the French resistance. Her two worlds collide when she spots the killer in a place she least expects. She soon realizes she's been pulled into the orbit of a man who has his own reasons to kill-reasons that go back to the last war.
As Maisie becomes entangled in a power struggle between Britain's intelligence efforts in France and the work of Free French agents operating across Europe, she must also contend with the lingering question of Freddie Hackett's state of mind. What she uncovers could hold disastrous consequences for all involved in this compelling chapter of the "series that seems to get better with every entry" (Wall Street Journal).
As Europe buckles under Nazi occupation, Maisie Dobbs investigates a possible murder that threatens devastating repercussions for Britain's war efforts in this latest installment in the New York Times bestselling mystery series.
October 1941. While on a delivery, young Freddie Hackett, a message runner for a government office, witnesses an argument that ends in murder. Crouching in the doorway of a bombed-out house, Freddie waits until the coast is clear. But when he arrives at the delivery address, he's shocked to come face to face with the killer.
Dismissed by the police when he attempts to report the crime, Freddie goes in search of a woman he once met when delivering a message: Maisie Dobbs. While Maisie believes the boy and wants to help, she must maintain extreme caution: she's working secretly for the Special Operations Executive, assessing candidates for crucial work with the French resistance. Her two worlds collide when she spots the killer in a place she least expects. She soon realizes she's been pulled into the orbit of a man who has his own reasons to kill-reasons that go back to the last war.
As Maisie becomes entangled in a power struggle between Britain's intelligence efforts in France and the work of Free French agents operating across Europe, she must also contend with the lingering question of Freddie Hackett's state of mind. What she uncovers could hold disastrous consequences for all involved in this compelling chapter of the "series that seems to get better with every entry" (Wall Street Journal).
Editorial Reviews
"Over 16 novels spanning three decades, Winspear's Maisie Dobbs has lived. In real life, her quiet bravery, compassion and dogged pursuit of the truth would have made her one of the Greatest Generation, a lesson in survival under the grimmest circumstances. The lessons are hard-won in The Consequences of Fear, set in the fall of 1941 but no less relevant today…. Fans and newcomers to the series will root for Dobbs and the other well-drawn characters." - Los Angeles Times
"Exceptional…. An intriguing series that entertains and inspires…. Winspear's latest novel reminds us why we love Maisie Dobbs." - Washington Post
"Once again, Ms. Winspear brings a vanished era to life with clarity and insight. Maisie Dobbs-businesswoman, widow, single mother of an adopted little girl, lady-friend of a dashing American diplomat-continues to mature and impress in her admirable mission to balance the scales of justice." - Wall Street Journal
"Fresh and compelling…. Winspear's sense of place is acutely evocative of wartime England's fears and hopes. Dobbs remains a particularly strong and well-crafted character, with a compelling back story; the same can be said for her devoted friends, family and colleagues." - Seattle Times
"Gripping." - Minneapolis Star Tribune
"Outstanding…. Maisie and her loving family of supporting characters continue to evolve and grow in ways sure to win readers' hearts. Winspear is writing at the top of her game." - Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Fast-paced . . .Winspear never sugarcoats the horrors of war, and alongside the camaraderie shown by these characters and the Londoners surrounding them she delivers terrible truths that must be endured. . . .also recommend it as a less- weighty read-alike for Anthony Doerr's All the Light We Cannot See." - Booklist, starred review
"A fast-paced tale of mystery and spycraft whose exploration of inner doubts and fears makes it much more." - Kirkus
"Like Winspear's other novels, this one explores the characters' minds, examining not only the facts but a...
"Exceptional…. An intriguing series that entertains and inspires…. Winspear's latest novel reminds us why we love Maisie Dobbs." - Washington Post
"Once again, Ms. Winspear brings a vanished era to life with clarity and insight. Maisie Dobbs-businesswoman, widow, single mother of an adopted little girl, lady-friend of a dashing American diplomat-continues to mature and impress in her admirable mission to balance the scales of justice." - Wall Street Journal
"Fresh and compelling…. Winspear's sense of place is acutely evocative of wartime England's fears and hopes. Dobbs remains a particularly strong and well-crafted character, with a compelling back story; the same can be said for her devoted friends, family and colleagues." - Seattle Times
"Gripping." - Minneapolis Star Tribune
"Outstanding…. Maisie and her loving family of supporting characters continue to evolve and grow in ways sure to win readers' hearts. Winspear is writing at the top of her game." - Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Fast-paced . . .Winspear never sugarcoats the horrors of war, and alongside the camaraderie shown by these characters and the Londoners surrounding them she delivers terrible truths that must be endured. . . .also recommend it as a less- weighty read-alike for Anthony Doerr's All the Light We Cannot See." - Booklist, starred review
"A fast-paced tale of mystery and spycraft whose exploration of inner doubts and fears makes it much more." - Kirkus
"Like Winspear's other novels, this one explores the characters' minds, examining not only the facts but a...
Readers Top Reviews
Storyteller7LisaA
I have loved getting to know Maisie Dobbs and her family and friends. It seems that Maisie is handling over the reins to Billy at the agency. She may still keep at her government job. The best thing is that she has now married Mark, so her happiness is somewhat ensured. It ends with December 7, 1941, when the Americans entered the war.
Kindle
What can I say? This author has such a wonderful name...I so wish I'd had a name like hers...and her writing is as wonderful as her name! I Love these books like millions of others do....she writes the You Are There, in the story, witnessing it all. I wait for these books like waiting for Christmas...the joy...from the book 's covers to every page of the content. She is as accomplished as her characters at truly evoking the emotional depth and breadth of their feelings, experiences, emotions, intelligence and...their flaws...such humanitarian writing about people who could be real, someone one knows.I these books should be read in order to get the full force of the time, the characters nd the settings....but mostly for the beautiful narrative warmth of the stories. I am in love with all the characters she writes about who work with, love and surround Masks Dobbs. What a magnificent series. I would also recommend them all for an true education about the historical information the impart with a true sense of the times there are written about...a real feeling of being there. I cannot recommend this series and her stand alone and non fiction books nearly enough...Thank you Jacqueline Wins pear.
Mal Warwick
Twelve-year-old Freddie Hackett is the fastest runner in his school and has secured a job as a nighttime courier for British intelligence. As the bombs fall all over London, Freddie runs from one site to another through the rubble-strewn streets. And on one such run on October 3, 1941 he witnesses a brutal murder committed by a man with memorable scars on his face. Later, when delivering his message nearby, he must hand it over to none other than the killer. But it’s a dark night, illuminated only by the moon, and Freddie is a child, after all. Nobody believes him. Still, he persists. And when word reaches Maisie Dobbs’ assistant, Billy Beale, the man knows something is up. Soon, Maisie is on the case. Maisie is working now for British intelligence For Maisie, though, investigating the murder Freddie saw is just one of several demands on her time. Now in her early forties, the “psychologist and investigator” is working on call for Robbie MacFarlane in the Special Operations Executive. Her job is to interview candidates for insertion as espionage agents on the Continent. She’s required to certify that, even after they’ve successfully made their way through the rigorous training, they’re fully prepared psychologically for the risks ahead. Meanwhile, her three-year-old adoptive daughter, Anna, is living at home with Maisie’s father and mother-in-law in Kent. Maisie feels constant guilt at her inability to spend full-time with the charming little girl. And all the while she’s carrying on an increasingly passionate affair with an American embassy official named Mark Scott. Despite the fact that the murder Freddie witnessed somehow involves British intelligence, she can’t afford to overlook everything else in her life. In The Consequences of Fear, the sixteenth entry in the Maisie Dobbs series, Jacqueline Winspear skillfully follows all these threads of her heroine’s story for the two months between Freddie’s discovery and December 7, 1941. An intriguing cast of characters Readers of the earlier entries in Maisie’s story will be familiar with most of the characters in this novel. Maisie’s work life ** Billy Beale, a wounded veteran of the trench war in World War I who has taken on an ever-larger share in the agency’s investigative work. ** Robbie MacFarlane, a senior official in Scotland Yard’s Special Branch detailed to the newly-formed Special Operations Executive (SOE). There, he vets and trains agents for service behind the lines in France and elsewhere in Europe. Maisie has been working for British intelligence since 1938, “when she accepted an assignment that took her to Munich.” ** Detective Chief Superintendent Caldwell, Maisie’s principal contact at Scotland Yard, now consumed with confronting a wave of crime. (As Billy observes to Maisie, “This looting is terrible—and according to a...
P. Morris
I have read every one of Ms. Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs’ books. She tells a great and gripping story. The greatest compliment that I can give to a writer is “I really cared a lot about what happened to her characters”. That’s especially true here. Nobody had better not “mess” with Maisie. A reader has no choice but to hang on every actual or possible happening to Maisie and her family and friends. Grand book! You have to read it.
Diana Winthers
I always look forward to the next installment of the Maisie Dobbs series. The characters come to life and you are truly invested in each individual of the story. This volume does not disappoint. My only issue with this series is the fact that such a strong character as Maisie seems to make questionable choices in her love life. I was never much enamored of her first husband, James Compton, as he seemed rather weak in character. Nor am I delighted with this latest, a rather brash American. Whatever happened to the other men who seemed more suited to her? At any rate, this latest book continues the thread of Britain in war time and I fully expect new developments as America joins the war.
