A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear - 4 stars

[Ellen]

In this 8th installment of the Maisie Dobbs series, Maisie is sent by the British Secret Service to St. Francis College in Cambridge as a junior lecturer in philosophy. Her assignment is to uncover subversive elements in the small school whose student body and staff is comprised of citizens of many foreign nations. Although the school's main purpose is to promote peace, especially in the shadow of WWI, there are rumors that Germany's Nazi party may have a foothold in the area. After the school's dean, Greville Liddicote, is murdered, Maisie is drawn even deeper into the political unrest as she uncovers secrets it may be dangerous for her to know.

At first I did not care for this book as much as some of the earlier ones in the series, but it actually turned out to be a very interesting overview of the beginnings of fascism and Nazi leanings in a politically unstable time period. A secondary mystery surrounding a friend whose husband was killed in a suspicious accident gave Maisie's faithful assistant Billy a chance to handle a case on his own. In the end, I enjoyed this one quite a bit.

[Joi]

I keep forgetting about this series! Read the first one and loved it- the second has been sitting on my shelf for maybe 4-ish years now! Thanks for the reminder!