A Dangerous Place audiobook

This latest installment in the Maisie Dobbs series is as strong as any of them, and was very difficult to put down. Plot summaries are usually unnecessary filler on this site, and it would not be possible in any case here without spoilers. Winspear's handling of personal grief and the complexities of war and politics is masterful, and remind us that there are usually quite a few more than two sides to a conflict, and that the real victims are always the civilians.

I’ve been looking forward to the Munich 1938 book and that’s the next book so I was worried about being able to thoroughly enjoy this one as I read it. I couldn’t believe how much happened in the first chapter. It felt incredibly rushed and almost like reading an entire (skipped) book. A few years has elapsed since the last book.Who knew?! Maisie’s name is Margaret Rebecca. I don’t remember knowing this before this book #11.Gibraltar was interesting and I guess it was a nice change but I still prefer the English settings and I was surprised that there was little mentioned about Maisie’s time in India. It was mentioned that she was there but none of the story took place when she was actually there. And then there was some time in Spain. This is prior to WWII but during the Spanish Civil War. I wasn’t wild to be back in a war zone and back to nursing. I’d been happy to have that left behind for quite a while.In some ways this book felt different from all the other ten books preceding it. I did enjoy it though. The new supporting characters were interesting. Gibraltar was interesting. I took this book off of my UK shelf though. I’d made the false assumption that all the Maisie Dobbs books would fit on that shelf. Even though the next book takes place in Munich at least some of the time I think and hope some of it will take place back again in England. 3-3/4 stars

Eleventh in the Maisie Dobbs historical mystery series and revolving around Lady Compton, a.k.a., Maisie Dobbs. There is no couple in this.My TakeI am so angry with Maisie (and with Winspear)! Yes, it was well-written, but no, Winspear couldn't possibly let Maisie be happy. I was so hopeful for James, and I looked forward to reading of Maisie's exploits with James.Instead, I cried and cried and cried all the way through this one almost from the very first page. Almost the only thing keeping Maisie alive is thoughts of Dr. Maurice Blanche.The massacre at Guernica takes place during A Dangerous Place. The Spanish Civil War was a footnote we peeked at in my high school history class. There was no mention of Guernica or what the war was about. Franco was the only real name I remember. Winspear provides an emotional (to me) explanation of why the Republicans are fighting this war. It's a well-done "info dump" that does NOT read that way. Another good example for writers.It's Maisie's experience, her past, that leads her to give Miriam some good advice.The StoryIt's a familiar world Maisie cannot face, and she gets off the ship in Gibraltar. Maybe a bit more time will make it easier to cope when she returns to England. Instead, her curiosity and compassion pull her into the Spanish Civil War with life-changing results.The CharactersMaisie, Lady Compton, neé Dobbs, is one of very few core characters in the series we truly encounter. The rest are mentioned, write letters, beg. James, Viscount Compton, was her beloved husband. Frankie Dobbs is her father; Brenda is her stepmother. Billy Beale was Maisie's assistant during her private investigator days. The thought of his insights encourage Maisie. Priscilla Partridge is her best friend and is married to Douglas, a poet and writer. They have three sons who loved their Uncle James. Lady Rowan Compton and her husband, Lord Julian, were James' parents, and they see Maisie as their daughter.Robbie MacFarlane is with Special Branch now. He suggests she contact David Shaw if she can't get hold of him.GibraltarMrs. Bishop runs the guest house where Maisie stays in Gibraltar. Arturo Kenyon is spying on Maisie. Mr. Salazar runs the café and looks out for Maisie. Michael Marsh is an inspector with the Gibraltar Police. Jacob Solomon owns the shop which sells Babayoff's photographs. Mr. Santos is a clerk at the Ridge Hotel.The too-curious, selfish Sebastian Babayoff is the Jewish man who is murdered and provides Maisie the excuse she needs. Miriam and the handicapped Chana Babayoff are his surviving sisters. Carlos Grillo was a fisherman and a good friend of Sebastian's. Rosanna was Carlos' niece and loved Sebastian.Professor Antonio Vallejo is angry with Britain's complicity in allowing German warplanes to cross the airspace in Gibraltar and refuel there. He knows Professor Francesca Thomas ( A Lesson in Secrets , 8); he also studied with Dr. Maurice Blanche, Maisie's mentor. Raoul is the driver who will sneak them into Spain.Spain"Red Ellen" Wilkinson is a fighter for workers' rights in Britain. Felipe runs a restaurant in Madrid. Maria is a maid at the hotel. Freda Nicholls and Hattie Benson are nurses who have volunteered to work with hospitals in Spain, caring for the wounded. Sister Teresa is all the people in the small devastated village in Valencia have for medical aid. Brian Smithers is an English fighter for the Republicans.Thomas Wright is the German who brokers war to anyone. He warns Maisie to stay away from Otterburn.Dr. Charles Hayden was a friend of Simon Lynch's and lives in Boston with his wife, Pauline. Captain Richard Johnstone tried to keep Maisie on board the ship. Dame Constance is the abbess at Camden Abbey. Mr. Klein is Maisie's solicitor in England, and he receives special instructions regarding a fully equipped ambulance.John Otterburn is the jerk from Elegy for Eddie , 9, with the experimental aircraft. His daughter, Elaine, is a flake.The Cover and TitleThe cover is the woodcut style I so enjoy and that the series has used in the past. This time it's Maisie in a white hat and short-sleeved blouse over a slim black skirt, her brown shoulder bag clutched to her side, one hand holding onto her hat as she looks up at the German warplanes flying over the Rock of Gibraltar in the background. The colors suit the mood in the gloomy grays and creams.The title is about Spain during its Civil War, and yes, it is A Dangerous Place.

Wow. I can't say too much as I feel that I would end up with spoilers. At the beginning of this book, Maisie has been to hell and she is working her way back, and she has ended up in (on?) Gibraltar. She finds herself working on a murder, which she hasn't done in quite some time, but this also helps with her road back from hell.Terrified of committing spoilers, highly recommended!!!

A Dangerous Place by Jacqueline Winspear is the eleventh book in her Maisie Dobbs series, and also, in my opinion, the most different from the others. Yes there is a mystery and plenty of historical fiction, however the reader learns more about Maisie and the inner turmoil she is going through in this book. It has been four years since Maisie has left England and she longs to head back to India for solitude and healing peace when she is summoned back to England by her stepmother. While Maisie is on a ship headed back to England and her aging father, she realizes she is not at all ready to return and ignoring all warnings disembarks early in Gibraltar. Gibraltar in 1937 is filled with refugees escaping the Spanish Civil War and things are not just dangerous in Spain, as Maisie quickly discovers as she becomes apart of a murder investigation of Sebastian Babayoff, an investigation that catches the eye of the British Secret Service, all the while Maisie herself, much like Gibraltar, is at a dangerous crossroads. Having enjoyed previous Maisie Dobbs books, I must say this one is my favorite. I liked the deep political and historical details, the new characters, and the very serious decisions that weigh heavily on Maisie. Winspear, in my opinion, has outdone herself with providing historical and political background, as well as creating an intense atmosphere, adding fabulous supporting cast members and reminding the readers just how far Maisie has come and what is has cost her to do so. For those new to the series or long time fans, I highly recommend A Dangerous Place.

It is 1937 and Europe is on the inexorable path that will lead to World War II. Maisie Dobbs is in Gibraltar, the strategic position of which makes it valuable as a listening post for many countries. Spies seem to be lurking around every corner and some of them are inordinately interested in what Maisie is doing.And what is Maisie doing? Well, she is trying to come to terms with a recent double tragedy in her life.She had married her lover, James Compton, and moved with him to Canada where he was employed testing aircraft that would play an integral part in any war to come. It was a happy time for her. She was eight months pregnant with their first child. Then catastrophe struck.The plane that James was testing went down in a fiery crash and James was killed. This all happened as Maisie watched. She started running toward the crash site, tripped and fell. Her child was delivered early and was dead. On one momentous day, she lost the two loves of her life.After she was sufficiently recovered physically, she sailed for England by way of India. She spent some quiet and peaceful time in India and then continued on, but when she got to Gibraltar, she found herself not ready to face her friends' and family's sympathy and the familiar surroundings that she had shared with James, so she disembarked and decided to spend some time there and wait for a later ship to take her home.Placing Maisie in Gibraltar gives Jacqueline Winspear an opportunity to explore some of the events leading up to the world war, as well as some of the tangled relationships between various countries and political groups. Nearby, the civil war in Spain is raging and both the communists and the fascists are present and attempting to further their cause in Gibraltar.Maisie soon becomes embroiled in the efforts of a group of people supporting the Republican cause in Spain. She does this by stumbling over a dead body on a dark path near her hotel one night. Having found the body, she feels a responsibility to find out what happened to the man and how he came to be struck down. This leads her down some dangerous paths as she gets to know his family and associates and tries to learn what he was doing that might have led someone to want him dead.I felt that Winspear did a very good job of describing the setting and developing a real feel for what must have been the fraught atmosphere of those times. Moreover, since Maisie is adrift without her usual cast of secondary characters, the author introduced several strong and sympathetic new characters. Many of these characters have secrets and are not what they first appear to be. They add complexity and a new element of suspense to the story. This was quite different from the usual Maisie Dobbs tale that we've come to know. But, again, Winspear does a good job of weaving Maisie's backstory into the plot, so she is able to recount her rags-to-riches narrative, her tragic experience as a nurse in World War I, and her time as an independent businesswoman in London and make it all come together in a coherent account. Even if one had not read the earlier books in this series, this book could easily be read as a standalone.So, where is Maisie to go from here? She and the series are at a crossroads it seems, even as the world itself reaches a crossroads. Will she follow the world into war once again? Winspear has given us quite a lot to think about here and it will be interesting to see where she takes her character next.

Oh how I missed this series! When I discovered Maisie Dobbs, I went through all the books out and then had to wait for this one.The writing in this series is absolutely fantastic. This particular book has a more somber tone, but I enjoyed it as much as the others.

It was great to get back to this series, and my break was well timed considering this book skipped ahead quite a few years. At first, I wasn't sure how I felt about such a time jump, but it was done well. And with all that happened, I'm glad it unfolded this way rather than over several books. But poor Maisie has been through so much. I've thoroughly enjoyed going on her personal and professional journey.

I really like this series, but have been reading them out of order, so I didn't realize until I read other reviews of this book that it had jumped completely over her short marriage to widowhood. I can see how that would disappoint, but I still found the book compelling because of the location (Gibraltar and Spain) and time period (Spanish Civil War). Maisie's investigation of the death of a man on Gibraltar helps her get over her grief, but the investigation itself isn't the logical progression of her normal case work. And yet, I liked it a lot. And I will continue my haphazard progress through the series.

When Maisie is on her way home from India to England in 1937, she makes a stop in Gibraltar. She is not yet ready to meet her family and friends after the tragic death of her husband and the loss of her unborn child. As it can not be otherwise, she stumbles upon a dead photographer shortly after her arrival. After telling the police everything she knew, she would have let the story rest. But knowing Maisie is exactly the last thing she does. She soon realizes that the police are not making much of an effort to find the killer, much worse, Maisie soon realizes that she is being shadowed. While she gets the help of the dead sister, she also takes advantage of her shadow. Soon Maisie has to realize during her investigations that the whole thing is very complex, that many political actors are involved and that the Spanish Civil War also plays a big role. She travels to Spain and has the privilege of having two nurses in a monastery in the mountains. Then she realizes that she has to postpone her journey home for a little longer, as she is needed there.