"Maisie Dobbs must 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"--Provided by publisher.

It's early 1938, and Maisie Dobbs is back in England. On a fine yet chilly morning, as she walks towards Fitzroy Square--a place of many memories--she is intercepted by Brian Huntley and Robert MacFarlane of the Secret Service. The German government has agreed to release a British subject from prison, but only if he is handed over to a family member. Because the man's wife is bedridden and his daughter has been killed in an accident, the Secret Service...

While investigating the disappearance of an apprentice craftsman who had been working on a secret government contract, Maisie discovers links to the London underworld. Spring, 1940. Following Britain's declaration of war on Germany, Maisie Dobbs has been investigating the disappearance of a young apprentice working on a hush-hush government contract. Her investigation leads from the countryside of rural Hampshire to the web of wartime opportunism...

September 1941. Delivery boy Freddie Hackett, a message runner for a government office, witnesses an argument that ends in murder. He waits until the coast is clear... but arrives at the delivery address to come face to face with the killer. Dismissed by the police Freddie turns to Maisie Dobbs. She believes the boy, but must maintain extreme caution: she is working secretly for the Special Operations Executive, assessing candidates for crucial work...