Journey to Munich

May 30, 2016
Cassidy is the perfect voice for Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs adventures. It’s 1938, and Maisie has returned to England after a time in Spain working as a nurse in that war-torn country. She’s still mourning the death of her husband, and her future is unclear. She accepts an assignment from the government to travel to Munich in the guise of Edwina Donant, whose father, Leon Donant, a British engineer of great military importance, is being held in Dachau. The Nazis will only release Donant to a family member, and the engineer’s only relative, his daughter, is too ill to travel. In addition to her official assignment, Maisie reluctantly accepts a second rescue mission, one with a more personal connection. In Germany, Maisie discovers that both missions hold their own intricacies and dangers. One wrong move could mean the difference between life and death. Cassidy is completely comfortable depicting Maisie’s world. Her clear English delivery moves the intriguing and suspenseful story along at a smooth, steady pace. At the same time, she easily juggles a diverse, multinational array of characters, each with their own distinctive accents and personalities. A Harper hardcover.

January 25, 2016
Winspear’s subpar 12th Maisie Dobbs novel (after 2015’s A Dangerous Place) finds Maisie still struggling with a double tragedy. Her beloved husband, James, died during the test of an experimental fighter plane, and the shock of witnessing the accident caused Maisie to miscarry. Meanwhile, the British Secret Service taps her for a mission into Nazi Germany on the eve of the Anschluss in 1938. Engineer Leon Donat is being held in Dachau after being arrested for involvement in the production of an underground newspaper. The Germans agree to release Donat but only to a family member. Since his one surviving relative, his grown daughter, is seriously ill, Maisie is to impersonate her to gain Donat’s freedom. As if that assignment isn’t perilous enough, Maisie also agrees to look for a woman who has disappeared in Munich, the person who should have piloted the fighter instead of James. Maisie is unconvincing as an undercover operative, and the plot relies too heavily on contrivances. Agent: Amy Rennert, Amy Rennert Agency.