A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear – 4 Stars

[Hannah]

In this instalment, Maisie Dobbs is not working for a private client, but rather she is undercover on an assignment for Special Branch and the Secret Service, likely setting up a change in direction for her in future books. Her assignment sees Maisie become a lecturer at a private college in Cambridge where she is asked to monitor any anti-government activities. Despite these changes, there is still a murder that Maisie needs to solve, and there was also a lot of interesting detail about England between the two World Wars. It also gave hints towards the situation developing with the rise of the political right in many countries in Europe, and how the dangers posed by fascism were seen as being much lower than those threatened by communism. I’m looking forward to reading the next in this series, and I hope the political situation continues to be a part in the next books.