The Mapping of Love and Death (Maisie Dobbs, Book 7)

“Jacqueline Winspear chronicles the uncharted, sometimes rocky path chosen by her protagonist and delivers results that are educational, unique and wonderful.” —USA Today “Maisie Dobbs is a revelation.” — Alexander McCall Smith, author of The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency From Jacqueline Winspear, New York Times bestselling author of Among the Mad and An Incomplete Revenge, comes another thrilling installment in the Maisie Dobbs series. In The Mapping of Love and Death, Winspear’s popular “psychologist and investigator” Maisie Dobbs is hired to unravel a case of wartime love and death, an investigation that leads her to a doomed affair between a young cartographer and a mysterious nurse.

In the latest mystery in the New York Times bestselling series, Maisie Dobbs must unravel a case of wartime love and death an investigation that leads her to a long-hidden affair between a young cartographer and a mysterious nurse.

August 1914. Michael Clifton is mapping the land he has just purchased in California's beautiful Santa Ynez Valley, certain that oil lies beneath its surface. But as the young cartographer prepares to return home to Boston, war is declared in Europe. Michael the youngest son of an expatriate Englishman puts duty first and sails for his father's native country to serve in the British army. Three years later, he is listed among those missing in action.

April 1932. London psychologist and investigator Maisie Dobbs is retained by Michael's parents, who have recently learned that their son's remains have been unearthed in France. They want Maisie to find the unnamed nurse whose love letters were among Michael's belongings a quest that takes Maisie back to her own bittersweet wartime love. Her inquiries, and the stunning discovery that Michael Clifton was murdered in his trench, unleash a web of intrigue and violence that threatens to engulf the soldier's family and even Maisie herself. Over the course of her investigation, Maisie must cope with the approaching loss of her mentor, Maurice Blanche, and her growing awareness that she is once again falling in love.

Following the critically acclaimed bestseller Among the Mad, The Mapping of Love and Death delivers the most gripping and satisfying chapter yet in the life of Maisie Dobbs.

The New York Times - Marilyn Stasio

Always the thorough researcher, Winspear surpasses herself in this absorbing novel by giving Maisie an exacting assignment: learning the skills cartographers bring into battle and then discovering why someone would want to kill one of them.

The story opens in August 1914 in the Santa Ynez Valley in California. Michael Cliftonyoungest son of an Englishman who had emigrated to America when he was in his late teens, in search of his fortunehas just purchased a tract of land he believes is rich with oil. Fate steps in when Michael learns Britain is going to war in Europe. In a moment of loyalty to his fathers homeland, he decides to travel to England to enlist for service. In the spring of 1932, after Michaels remains are discovered in France, his wealthy parents hire Maisie Dobbs to find the womanidentified only as The English Nursewho wrote a series of love letters discovered among Michaels belongings. The investigation takes Maisie from Londons most exclusive drawing rooms to its most downtrodden neighborhoods, forcing her to wrestle with memories of serving as a nurse in the Great War and of the passionate wartime romance that ended in tragedy. But as she delves into what she discovers to be a long-hidden crime, the investigator realizes unearthing buried secrets can lead to present-day danger.