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In This Grave Hour audiobook

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In This Grave Hour Audiobook Summary

“A female investigator every bit as brainy and battle-hardened as Lisbeth Salander.” — Maureen Corrigan, NPR’s Fresh Air, on Maisie Dobbs

The thirteenth installment in Jacqueline Winspear’s enormously popular New York Times bestselling mystery series. As Britain declares war on Germany, the indomitable Maisie Dobbs stumbles on the deaths of refugees who may have been more than ordinary people seeking sanctuary on English soil.

Sunday September 3rd 1939. At the moment Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain broadcasts to the nation Britain’s declaration of war with Germany, a senior Secret Service agent breaks into Maisie Dobbs’ flat to await her return. Dr. Francesca Thomas has an urgent assignment for Maisie: to find the killer of a man who escaped occupied Belgium as a boy, some twenty-three years earlier during the Great War.

In a London shadowed by barrage balloons, bomb shelters and the threat of invasion, within days another former Belgian refugee is found murdered. And as Maisie delves deeper into the killings of the dispossessed from the “last war,” a new kind of refugee — an evacuee from London — appears in Maisie’s life. The little girl billeted at Maisie’s home in Kent does not, or cannot, speak, and the authorities do not know who the child belongs to or who might have put her on the “Operation Pied Piper” evacuee train. They know only that her name is Anna.

As Maisie’s search for the killer escalates, the country braces for what is to come. Britain is approaching its gravest hour — and Maisie could be nearing a crossroads of her own.

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In This Grave Hour Audiobook Narrator

Orlagh Cassidy is the narrator of In This Grave Hour audiobook that was written by Jacqueline Winspear

Jacqueline Winspear is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The Consequences of Fear, The American Agent, and To Die but Once, as well as thirteen other bestselling Maisie Dobbs novels and The Care and Management of Lies, a Dayton Literary Peace Prize finalist. Jacqueline has also published two nonfiction books, What Would Maisie Do? and a memoir, This Time Next Year We’ll Be Laughing. Originally from the United Kingdom, she divides her time between California and the Pacific Northwest.

About the Author(s) of In This Grave Hour

Jacqueline Winspear is the author of In This Grave Hour

In This Grave Hour Full Details

Narrator Orlagh Cassidy
Length 10 hours 28 minutes
Author Jacqueline Winspear
Category
Publisher HarperAudio
Release date March 14, 2017
ISBN 9780062657312

Subjects

The publisher of the In This Grave Hour is HarperAudio. includes the following subjects: The BISAC Subject Code is Fiction, Mystery & Detective, Traditional British

Additional info

The publisher of the In This Grave Hour is HarperAudio. The imprint is HarperAudio. It is supplied by HarperAudio. The ISBN-13 is 9780062657312.

Global Availability

This book is only available in the United States.

Goodreads Reviews

Jaline

December 08, 2017

This is a series that engaged my interest, my heart, and my mind from the very first book. Although I waited a long time for this one to come available through the Library on OverDrive, it was definitely worth the wait.Jacqueline Winspear’s writing is exceptionally good. At first I thought maybe this could be read as a standalone, but to be honest, one would miss so much of the bonding experience with all the characters, their backgrounds, and how they all connected without reading the whole set. It’s a lot of books (this one is #13 in the series) but they are so well written and so fascinating that they speed by without even noticing how late (or early) one is reading.Maisie Dobbs is a multi-faceted, very smart, and very intriguing character. She has grown through this series, but the essence of who she is – the very heart and soul of her – have remained consistent so her personal growth is added on to who she already is rather than radically changing her. I adore reading about her life including her current work as a psychologist and private investigator.Maisie’s best friend is Priscilla, who married Douglas Partridge several books back and they have three boys named Thomas, Timothy, and Tarquin. The title of this book is taken from the King’s speech at the beginning of World War II – and the two oldest boys (18 and 17) are determined to sign up. Their parents are not happy and neither is Maisie as they have all been scarred in various ways through the First World War and their war stories are told in the first several books.Along with this family, I was so happy to become re-acquainted with Maisie’s assistant Billy Beale, their secretary Sandra Pickering, Maisie’s father Frankie and others that I won’t talk about because it would spoil earlier books by mentioning them.There are a few murders in this book and Maisie is investigating the first one at the behest of another old friend when the second one quickly follows, along with others. Finding the connections and tracking down the murderer(s) appears at first to be an impossible task – the old needle in a haystack situation. However, Maisie and her team are nothing if not persistent – and thorough. It is these qualities that lead them off on several fast-paced and breathtaking adventures. Will they be in time to prevent further murders?I am very much looking forward to the next one in this series as the stories are always involved, the recurring characters are ones I care about and love reading about, and the writing envelops me in the totality of the experience completely. I highly recommend this series!

Cindy

February 07, 2017

Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs is one of the most creatively written characters in fiction today, and In This Grave Hour is an outstanding addition to the series. The story begins on September 3, 1939, the day Great Britain officially declared war on Germany thereby formally entering World War 2. When Maisie returns home that evening, a Secret Service agent is waiting to hire Maisie to find the murderer of a man who had escaped Occupied Belgium during the Great War. This investigation leads Maisie down a complicated and fascinating path. Meanwhile, Maisie is dealing with a refugee issue of her own related to the new war.I was unaware of the influx of Belgians into Great Britain during World War 1 – some settling with families for the duration of the war and others setting up entire towns of Belgian citizens. While most returned home when the war was over, some stayed in England permanently. Winspear uses this incident as the basis for this novel and provides so many fascinating details regarding the entire refugee event and the impact on both countries.World War 2 is one of my favorite eras, and I have read so many books based then. I love stories that still manage to teach me new facts and stories about that time period. In This Grave Hour most certainly succeeds in that respect as Winspear brings the early months of the war to life demonstrating what it was like for Londoners. I didn’t know that Londoners carried gas masks everywhere (and left them many places too until they got used to keeping up with the masks) and that barrage balloons were a constant presence in the sky. I also learned that those early months were subsequently dubbed “The Phoney War” because it was months before Germany actually started bombing London lulling the populace into thinking that the war might never reach British soil. Winspear vividly conveys the horror of war and its impact on the lives of everyone involved, not just those who enlist. Many British subjects had barely recovered from the last war and could hardly fathom that war was upon them again. The title of the book is taken from King George’s speech given on that September 3rd which Winspear uses as an Epitaph: “In this grave hour, perhaps the most fateful in our history… for the second time in the lives of most of us, we are at war.” The title is perfect for the book.I loved In This Grave Hour. Thanks to Harper for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lisa

May 14, 2021

I am addicted to this series. I virtually never read two novels at once but I hadthought that this one would be different enough from my main book, but it turned out that there were a lot of similarities including a found/lost mute child.In this book I wasn’t that wild about the murder mystery but I loved the other mystery, that of the young girl. It’s another great dog and horse book.I read these for the characters & the relationships & the settings and all were top notch this time around. I looked up information about the barrage balloons over London at the start of WWII. I always end up doing some research when reading the books in this series. I always learn some things. I enjoyed all of the author's notes in the back of the book! Great extras!3-2/3 stars

Suzze

February 24, 2017

September 3, 1939. Great Britain declares war on Germany and this novel begins. Another excellent installment of the Maisie Dobbs series. The main story involves Belgian refugees in England from The Great War, but along the way we see the minutiae of the country preparing for another war. Barrage balloons tied up over London (to make it difficult for low flying planes to enter the airspace, children being sent to the country to stay where it was deemed safer, and the return of women volunteering for the war effort. Excellent.

Cherie

April 13, 2020

A much more upbeat feeling than the last several installments and the old team is back together, although WWII has begun. I really love how Maisie has grown from the 12 year old girl her father had sent into service after her mother died, all of those years ago.

Diane

March 14, 2017

The last few Maisie Dobbs books have found Maisie in Germany and Spain, away from her friends and family, trying to heal from a horrible tragedy. The latest book, In This Grave Hour, Maisie is back in London and back to work as a private investigator and psychologist.That means that the characters we have grown to love- her assistants Billy and Sandra, her father and stepmother Brenda, best friend Priscilla and Pris' husband and sons- are back too. They were sorely missed.As the story opens in 1939, England has reluctantly declared war on Germany. We first met Maisie when she was a nurse and ambulance driver in France during WWI, and we have seen the havoc wreaked on her and the people she loved because of war. They are all wary of what will happen, but many (including Maisie) know how dangerous Hitler and Nazi Germany have become.Francesca Thomas, a Belgian national we have met in a previous book, returns to ask Maisie to investigate the murder of a Belgian refugee in London. Thomas is a shadowy figure, and she doesn't believe that the London police are very interested in discovering what happened.Maisie takes on the case, and she brings out the trusty case board for her and Billy and Sandra to work on. (This brings me great joy to see the case board again!) Maisie discovers that two other Belgian refugees have been murdered in the same fashion, a bullet to the back of the head while kneeling, so this case gets more complicated.The story resonates with today's news as war refugees from Syria have been flooding Europe and many of the countries to which they have been accepted are having issues as well. Nationalist movements are gaining ground in countries like England, France and Germany as millions of refugees seek safety from their war-torn home.Maisie gets involved with a man blinded and rendered disabled by WWI, as well as a young girl found at a train station alone amidst a group of refugees. Maisie recruits her father and stepmother to help her with the young girl.Using her wits and training, Maisie closes the case. And as WWII looms, Priscilla convinces Maisie to join her as she signs up to drive ambulances for wounded soldiers. It seems that in the next book, we will have come full circle, with Maisie and Priscilla helping out with the war effort.In This Grave Hour brings Maisie back to her home, family and friends, and it feels right. This is a strong book in the series, and I will be impatiently awaiting next year's story to see where WWII takes Maisie and company.It is particularly appropriate that each Maisie Dobbs book publishes in March, which is International Women's History Month. Maisie is a wonderful feminist heroine, and this series is great for high schoolers.

Craig

March 01, 2018

This is the latest in a steady stream of more than a dozen Maisie Dobbs mysteries to appear since 2003. It is my first encounter with this heroine, whose business card describes her as “psychologist and investigator” (which must have been an unusual combination in 1939 Britain). I suspect that died-in-the-wool Dobbs fans will also happily welcome back any number of familiar faces: Billy, Masie’s plain-speaking gumshoe assistant; Sandra, her secretary (largely absent this time around, laid low by morning sickness); her BFF since Cambridge days and a fellow veteran of a WW I ambulance brigade, Priscilla Partridge; plus Daisie’s various family members and her patrician in-laws, acquired (along with a title) from her late husband (as happened with Harriet Vane when she married Lord Peter Wimsey) and retained after his death, which presumably occurred a book or two ago. They all add up to a very interesting and congenial bunch, likely to have garnered lots of fans by now, and their lives are just as central to the plot as the criminal elements that provide the chief excuse for Dobbs novel number 13. The ways in which the extended Dobbs clan confront the realities and uncertainties of war with Germany, declared in the book’s prologue, are as interesting as the several related acts of homicide that Maisie investigates in between family obligations. These include her temporary (maybe—maybe not) “adoption” of a lost, “mute” child of color, left behind when London children are being evacuated from the city for safekeeping (a bit like the Anna sub-plot in the finale to season 2 of “Victoria” on PBS).A lot gets left unsaid as we go. This is partly because during the “Phony War,” hush-hush elements of espionage and hangovers and hangers-on from Great War Resistance are once again coming into play as Britain’s secret service gears up for hostilities. The Crime remains a bit mystifying along the way, and requires one of those rather extended explanations to sort it all out toward the end. A certain amount of Dobbs family stuff also goes without saying because this is Dobbs No. 13. The author has introduced and written about all these old friends innumerable times already: perhaps it’s hard to take into account the ignorance of any Johnny-Come-Lately readers when returning to these characters one more time. I would like to have known or heard more about some of Maisie’s family and friends. Presumably I can find what’s missing in books 1-12—which I will quite happily seek out.

Jean

March 27, 2017

It is great to have Maisie, Sandra and Billie back in the old office working on investigations again. Feels like the book is back on track. World War II has started and for all the veterans of WWI and their families it is a difficult time.Dr. Francesca Thomas of the Belgium Embassy and secret service has hired Maisie to solve a murder of a Belgium refugee from WWI. Then three more murders occur of people Maisie has spoken to during the investigation. Maisie has also taken in some children into the Dowager house and her father and Brenda are taking care of them. People are sending their children out of London and into the countryside in case London is bombed.The book is well written and researched. Winspear keeps Maisie into the time frame so well. Having the WWI Belgium refugees at the center of the story keeps the theme of the series together going into another war. Winspear provides great descriptions of what life was like in and around London at the onset of WWII. The characters are so interesting and realistic. I have enjoyed this series from the beginning.I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book is about ten and half hours long. Orlagh Cassidy does an excellent job narrating the series. Cassidy is a Scottish actress and award winning audiobook narrator. She is one of my favorite narrators.

Cara

March 21, 2017

Absolutely masterful. A perfect build on the series -- which continues to be a great combination that gets better with each book.

Melissa

August 09, 2017

This book is the first that I have read in the series, and I wasn't lost. The times that the author referred to earlier events, she gave plenty of details about it. I loved Maisie. This woman is an established investigator with complicated war and personal backgrounds. The story is so well structured that I never guessed who the killer that she was investigating was. Many thanks for the signed first edition provided by the publisher!

Charlene

March 24, 2017

Ah, Maisie!! I was so glad to finally get my hands on a new Maisie Dobbs, and I was not disappointed! Time continues to pass and now Britain is on the cusp of ANOTHER war! For Maisie and many of her friends and co-workers, the LAST war was the worst thing ever, but now Mr Hitler wants to rule the world. Maisie is contacted by an old acquaintance in the secret service and asked to look into a murder that may not be receiving all the attention it deserves from the police, who are understandably busy with problems arising from the new war. The victim was a Belgian refugee during WWI and opted to stay in England afterward, so he is not exactly at the top of the list for the British police. Another murder, possibly related, takes place and then two more, and Maisie definitely has a case on her hands. Problem is, the Belgians are not so very forthcoming with all the information they have, yet they want Maisie to find out what is going on, and who is responsible.Along the way, we catch up with Maisie's Dad and his new wife, Priscilla and her boys, and Maisie's two helpers. Altogether another good job. Looking forward to the next one..............

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