The American Agent: A Maisie Dobbs Novel

As a volunteer ambulance driver in London in 1940, Maisie Dobbs aids the victims of the German blitz, in bestseller Winspear’s excellent 15th novel featuring the psychologist/investigator (after 2018’s To Die But Once). One night while on duty, she meets American journalist Catherine Saxon, who reports on the horrors of the blitz for radio listeners in the U.S. Maisie enjoys the company of the effervescent American, who unfortunately is found murdered in her flat the next morning. When Scotland Yard enlists Maisie’s help in solving the case, she’s reunited with Mark Scott, an American agent with whom she once had a brief flirtation in Munich. As the number of suspects in Catherine’s murder increases, Maisie’s romantic feelings grow for Mark, who’s also investigating the American ambassador to the U.K., Nazi sympathizer Joseph P. Kennedy. Meanwhile, Maisie seeks to adopt a war orphan. In Winspear’s capable hands, Maisie has evolved into a deeply sympathetic character. Readers will eagerly await her next outing. Agent: Amy Rennert, Amy Rennert Agency. (Mar.)