{"title":"Books by Jacqueline Winspear","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780719566240","title":"Birds of a Feather","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A terrific mystery . . . Both intriguing and full of suspense'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eObserver\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLondon, 1929. Joseph Waite is a man who knows what he wants. With his Havana cigars and Savile Row suits, he is one of Britain's wealthiest men. And the last thing he needs is a scandal. When his unmarried daughter runs away from home, he is determined to keep the case away from the police and the newspapers. So he turns to a woman renowned for her discretion and investigative powers - the extraordinary Maisie Dobbs.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMaisie soon discovers that there are many reasons why Charlotte Waite might have left home and instinctively feels the women is in safe hands. Yet the investigator suddenly finds herself confronting a murder scene.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith wonderful characters and a page-turning plot, \u003ci\u003eBirds of a Feather\u003c\/i\u003e is a brilliant mystery. Fans of \u003ci\u003eMaisie Dobbs\u003c\/i\u003e will be delighted to see Maisie's sleuthing abilities back in action, while the emotional heart of her second mystery will appeal to yet more fans.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43204055367858,"sku":"9780719566240","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780719566240_942e795a-99ea-4a4c-bb3f-af2b6995da4d.jpg?v=1786014867"},{"product_id":"9780749020989","title":"Journey to Munich","description":"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 . . .","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43204075913394,"sku":"9780749020989","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780749020989_fe3f77ae-fa7e-4153-9e88-b6549ee0b1e8.jpg?v=1786016270"},{"product_id":"9780749018924","title":"A Dangerous Place","description":"Spring, 1937. Four years after she set sail from England, leaving everything she most loved behind, Maisie Dobbs is making her way home, only to find herself in a dangerous place. She was seeking peace in the hills of Darjeeling, but her sojourn is cut short when her stepmother summons her back to England. But on a ship bound for Southampton, Maisie realises she isn't ready to return.Against the wishes of the captain she disembarks in Gibraltar - the British garrison town is teeming with refugees fleeing a brutal civil war across the border in Spain. Days after Maisie's arrival, a photographer is murdered, and Maisie becomes entangled in the case, drawing the attention of the British Secret Service as she is pulled deeper into political intrigue on 'the Rock' . . .","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43204144136370,"sku":"9780749018924","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780749018924.jpg?v=1786014771"},{"product_id":"9780719566226","title":"Maisie Dobbs","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA favorite mystery series of Hillary Clinton (as mentioned in \u003ci\u003eWhat Happened\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eNew York Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e)\u003cbr\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e Notable Book of the Year\u003cbr\u003eAgatha Award Winner for Best First Novel\u003cbr\u003eMacavity Award Winner for Best First Novel\u003cbr\u003eAlex Award Winner\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFiercely independent Maisie Dobbs has recently set herself up as a private detective. Such a move may not seem especially startling. But this is 1929, and Maisie is exceptional in many ways.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHaving started as a maid to the London aristocracy, studied her way to Cambridge and served as a nurse in the Great War, Maisie has wisdom, experience and understanding beyond her years. Little does she realise the extent to which this strength of character is soon to be tested. For her first case forces her to uncover secrets long buried, and to confront ghosts from her own past . . .\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'In Maisie Dobbs, Jacqueline Winspear has given us a real gift' Alexander McCall Smith\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43399455080626,"sku":"9780719566226","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780719566226_ba8b7909-f4b1-4732-8034-487c68323299.jpg?v=1786014866"},{"product_id":"9780749021900","title":"In This Grave Hour","description":"Britain is at war. Returned from a dangerous mission onto enemy soil and having encountered an old enemy and the Führer himself along the way, Maisie Dobbs is fully aware of the gravity of the current situation and how her world ison the cusp of great change. One of those changes can be seen in the floods of refugees that are arriving in Britain, desperate for sanctuary from the approaching storm of war. When Maisie stumbles on the deaths of refugees who may have been more than ordinary people, she is drawn into an investigation that requires all her insight and strength.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43403709055154,"sku":"9780749021900","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780749021900.jpg?v=1786033119"},{"product_id":"9780749022341","title":"To Die But Once","description":"Spring 1940. With Britons facing what has become known as the Bore War - nothing much seems to have happened yet - Maisie Dobbs is asked to investigate the disappearance of a local lad, a young apprentice craftsman working on a \"hush-hush\" government contract. As Maisie's inquiry reveals a possible link to the London underworld, so the country is bracing for a possible enemy invasion amid news of the British expeditionary force stranded along the French coast. And another mother is worried about a missing son - but this time the boy in question is one beloved by Maisie.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43405880983730,"sku":"9780749022341","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780749022341.jpg?v=1788186112"},{"product_id":"9780749024703","title":"The American Agent","description":"When an American war correspondent's murder is concealed by British authorities, Maisie Dobbs agrees to work with an agent of the US Department of Justice to help an old friend discover the truth. With German bombs raining down on London, Maisie is torn between the demands of solving this dangerous case and the need to protect her young evacuee. And what will happen when she faces losing her dearest friend and the possibility that she might be falling in love again?","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43406108459186,"sku":"9780749024703","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780749024703_c688ff18-f7dd-45fd-905a-39bc0ee61bdd.jpg?v=1786014824"},{"product_id":"9780749028329","title":"A Sunlit Weapon","description":"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.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43406715420850,"sku":"9780749028329","price":8.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780749028329.jpg?v=1786014890"},{"product_id":"9780749031176","title":"The Comfort of Ghosts","description":"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.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":54911856509301,"sku":"9780749031176","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":57685832204661,"sku":"9780749031077","price":22.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780749031176.jpg?v=1792599037"},{"product_id":"9780719569616","title":"An Incomplete Revenge","description":"\u003cp\u003e1931. Maisie Dobbs' new case takes her investigation into the pastoral beauty of the Kent Weald where acts of arson, theft and vandalism around the village of Heronsdene have gone suspiciously unreported for more than a decade. With the country in the grip of economic malaise, Maisie is relieved to accept an assignment from an old friend who wants her to uncover the truth behind these crimes, before he can buy part of the magnificent Sandermere estate at the heart of the village. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt's hop-picking time and Londoners, including Maisie's assistant Billy Beale, wanting to escape the Smoke for the summer, set up camp in nearby fields. Gypsies, too, have arrived to work the land. Maisie discovers the villagers are bitterly prejudiced against outsiders and, even more troubling, seem possessed by the legacy of a war-time Zepplin raid. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe has less than a month to find out why no one has been brought to justice and why secrecy shrouds the village. She must draw on all of her finely-honed skills of detection to solve one of her most intriguing cases.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Think Upstairs Downstairs meets Miss Marple - with a touch of chirpy cheerful Cockney from the Dick Van Dyke school' \u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eYorkshire Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56294895518069,"sku":"9780719569616","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780719569616_6c28edf8-5959-4c2e-90c0-3f59d50f8fa5.jpg?v=1786014910"},{"product_id":"9780719569913","title":"Among the Mad","description":"\u003cp\u003eChristmas Eve, 1931. On the way to see a client, Maisie Dobbs witnesses a man commit suicide on a busy London street. The following day, the Home Secretary receives a letter threatening a massive loss of life if certain demands are not met. Maisie is invited into Scotland Yard's elite Special Branch as a special adviser on the case - and becomes involved in a race against time to find a man who soon proves he has the knowledge, and will, to murder thousands of innocent people. Before this harrowing case is over, Maisie must negotiate her way through a darkness not encountered since she was a nurse in wards filled with shell-shocked men.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Absorbing and exciting . . . what charms most is Dobbs herself'\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56295396901237,"sku":"9780719569913","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780719569913_f19dc761-4ac8-4875-9d1e-1dcb6bd73b4b.jpg?v=1786014912"},{"product_id":"9780749012243","title":"Elegy for Eddie","description":"April, 1933. To the costermongers of London, Eddie Pettit is simply a gentle soul with a near-magical gift for working with horses. When he is killed in a violent accident, the costers are sceptical about the cause of his death, and recruit Maisie Dobbs to investigate. Maisie, who has known these men since childhood and remembers Eddie fondly, is eager to help. But it soon becomes clear that powerful political and financial forces are equally determined to prevent her from learning too much about Eddie's death. As Maisie uncovers lies and manipulation on a national scale, she must decide whether to risk all to see justice done.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56296676360565,"sku":"9780749012243","price":8.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780749012243_07d734c2-8a8a-4e63-afc2-d3320c0577a1.jpg?v=1786014754"},{"product_id":"9780749029234","title":"The White Lady","description":"1947. Elinor White, known locally as 'the White lady', is living a solitary, quiet life in a grace-and-favour cottage in the Kent countryside. Unbeknownst to her neighbours, she is the veteran of two world wars, a trained killer and former intelligence agent. Yet Elinor's private and seemingly tranquil existence conceals a past trauma that comes to the fore when she is drawn into the predicament of a local man entangled with one of the most dangerous crime families in London.A treacherous path lies ahead, but it may be one that ultimately leads Elinor to a future unshackled from her own painful history.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56296875557237,"sku":"9780749029234","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780749029234_889fd91c-f88f-4245-ab63-0e70f236e5ce.jpg?v=1786014909"},{"product_id":"9780749040888","title":"The Mapping of Love and Death","description":"August 1914.  When war in Europe is declared, a young American cartographer, Michael Clifton, is compelled to fight for his father's native country, and sets sail for England to serve in the British Army.  Three years later, he is listed as missing in action.April 1932.  After Michael's remains are unearthed in a French field, his devastated parents engage investigator Maisie Dobbs, hoping she can find the unnamed nurse whose love letters were among their late son's belongings.  It is a quest that leads Maisie back to her own bittersweet wartime love - and to the discovery that Michael Clifton may not have died in combat.  Suddenly an exposed web of intrigue and violence threatens to ensnare the dead soldier's family and even Maisie herself  as she attempts to cope with the impending loss of her mentor and the unsettling awareness that she is once again falling in love.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56296882766197,"sku":"9780749040888","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780749040888_5590892b-d69d-4927-94c5-25571a986c30.jpg?v=1786015058"},{"product_id":"9780719567360","title":"Pardonable Lies","description":"\u003cp\u003eLondon, 1930. Maisie Dobbs, the renowned psychologist and investigator, receives a most unusual request. She must prove that Sir Cecil Lawton's son Ralph really is dead.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is a case that will challenge Maisie in unexpected ways, for Ralph Lawton was an aviator shot down by enemy fire in 1917. To get to the bottom of the mystery, Maisie must travel to the former battlefields of northern France, where she served as a nurse in the Great War and where ghosts of her past still linger. As her investigation moves closer to the truth, Maisie soon uncovers the secrets and lies that some people would prefer remain buried.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Maisie Dobbs in a delightful character . . . an enjoyable mystery' \u003ci\u003eLiterary Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56296891482485,"sku":"9780719567360","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780719567360_a91c9f2f-2917-42a0-b748-23c70f7fb2fb.jpg?v=1786014882"},{"product_id":"9780749040048","title":"A Lesson in Secrets","description":"In the summer of 1932, Maisie Dobbs's career takes an exciting new turn when she accepts an undercover assignment directed by Scotland Yard's Special Branch and the Secret Service. Posing as a junior lecturer, she is sent to a private college in Cambridge to monitor any activities, \"not in the interests of His Majesty's Government.\"","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56297805513077,"sku":"9780749040048","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780749040048_fe2cf770-1e56-418d-b54a-3605efada26c.jpg?v=1790000834"},{"product_id":"9781641292948","title":"This Time Next Year We'll Be Laughing","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eA 2021 Edgar Award Nominee for Best Critical\/Biographical\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Jacqueline Winspear has created a memoir of her English childhood that is every bit as engaging as her Maisie Dobbs novels, just as rich in character and detail, history and humanity. Her writing is lovely, elegant and welcoming.”\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Anne Lamott\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling author of the Maisie Dobbs series offers a deeply personal memoir of her family’s resilience in the face of war and privation.  \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eAfter sixteen novels, Jacqueline Winspear has taken the bold step of  turning to memoir, revealing the hardships and joys of her family  history. Both shockingly frank and deftly restrained, her story tackles  the difficult, poignant, and fascinating family accounts of her paternal  grandfather’s shellshock; her mother’s evacuation from London during  the Blitz; her soft-spoken animal-loving father’s torturous assignment  to an explosives team during WWII; her parents’ years living with Romany Gypsies; and Winspear’s own childhood picking hops and fruit on farms  in rural Kent, capturing her ties to the land and her dream of being a  writer at its very inception. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e An eye-opening and heartfelt portrayal of a post-War England we rarely see, \u003ci\u003eThis Time Next Year We’ll Be Laughing\u003c\/i\u003e chronicles a childhood in the English countryside, of working class  indomitability and family secrets, of artistic inspiration and the price  of memory.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56302683357557,"sku":"9781641292948","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781641292948_79328a57-4d64-4d8a-bb8e-723a7fe18822.jpg?v=1786024257"},{"product_id":"charlie-bright","title":"Charlie Bright","description":"San Francisco, 1947: Twenty-seven-year-old British war bride Charlotte \"Charlie\" Bright believesshe has been abandoned by her former G.I. husband, a charismatic charmer who departed on a \"business trip\" four weeks earlier, leaving Charlie with puzzling debts.  But Charlie, a WWII veteran of the women's Auxiliary Territorial Service and the daughter of a London policeman, is no shrinking violet-as an expanding cast quickly discover.    While working in her new job as secretary to genial private investigator Gianni Murphy, they receive word that a body has been found dumped south of the City.  Kicked into gear by this news and increasingly frustrated by police inaction in the search for her husband, Charlie is on a mission to find out what might have happened to him - a personal probe leading her to the Santa Clara Valley, where groundbreaking new industries are pushing out family farms. With the steadfast help of her two best friends and PI boss, Charlie is soon stirring up trouble with corrupt police, real estate sharks, journalists, socialites, adulterers and mobsters in her quest to uncover the truth about her missing husband.    Inspired by real events, Charlie Bright is a tour-de-force, shining the spotlight on a rapidly changing America. Most of all, it is a gripping tale of a powerful heroine demanding, and finding, justice.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57695223316853,"sku":"9780749034221","price":22.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}]}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-jacqueline-winspear.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}