Narrator Orlagh Cassidy uses her talent with accents and voices to draw listeners into the world of the indomitable Maisie Dobbs. In addition to masterfully delivering the diverse personalities of the returning characters, including Maisie’s American husband, Mark, Cassidy provides a convincing voice for visiting American First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Winspear imparts insights on the courageous women pilots who served in WWII and the ways that American racism impacted Black soldiers stationed in the UK. Winspear, partnered with Cassidy, dramatically conveys the emotional impact of war on the soldiers and their families. The magic in this series is how the author’s words and the narrator’s voices together create an engrossing listening experience that combines historical facts, psychology, mystery, romance, and suspense. E.Q. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
A Sunlit Weapon (Maisie Dobbs Series #17)
Narrated by Orlagh Cassidy
Jacqueline WinspearUnabridged — 11 hours, 11 minutes
A Sunlit Weapon (Maisie Dobbs Series #17)
Narrated by Orlagh Cassidy
Jacqueline WinspearUnabridged — 11 hours, 11 minutes
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Overview
In the latest installment of the New York Times bestselling series, a series of possible attacks on British pilots leads Jacqueline Winspear's beloved heroine Maisie Dobbs into a mystery involving First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
*October 1942. Jo Hardy, a 22-year-old ferry pilot, is delivering a Supermarine Spitfire-the fastest fighter aircraft in the world-to Biggin Hill Aerodrome, when she realizes someone is shooting at her aircraft from the ground. Returning to the location on foot, she finds an American serviceman in a barn, bound and gagged. She rescues the man, who is handed over to the American military police; it quickly emerges that he is considered a suspect in the disappearance of a fellow soldier who is missing.*
*Tragedy strikes two days later, when another ferry pilot crashes in the same area where Jo's plane was attacked. At the suggestion of one of her colleagues, Jo seeks the help of psychologist and investigator Maisie Dobbs.**Meanwhile, Maisie's husband, a high-ranking political attaché based at the American embassy, is in the thick of ensuring security is tight for the first lady of the United States, Eleanor Roosevelt, during her visit to the Britain. There's already evidence that German agents have been circling: the wife of a president represents a high value target. Mrs. Roosevelt is clearly in danger, and there may well be a direct connection to the death of the woman ferry pilot and the recent activities of two American servicemen.
*To guarantee the safety of the First Lady-and of the soldier being held in police custody-Maisie must uncover that connection. At the same time, she faces difficulties of an entirely different nature with her young daughter, Anna, who is experiencing wartime struggles of her own.*
Editorial Reviews
01/31/2022
Agatha Award winner Winspear ups the ante for Maisie Dobbs in her suspenseful if flawed 17th mystery featuring the British psychologist/investigator (after 2021’s The Consequences of Fear). In 1942, ferry pilot Jo Hardy consults Maisie after the plane she was flying over southeastern England was shot at by someone on the ground. The unidentified shooter was at a farm, and when Jo visits the scene, she finds a Black American private, Matthias Crittenden, bound and gagged in one of the buildings. Despite that condition, Crittenden is suspected of being involved in the disappearance of a fellow private and is taken into military custody. Maisie’s probing uncovers some coded messages at the spot where Crittenden was held captive, which her husband, Mark Scott, an American political attaché, discloses relate to a German plot to kill Eleanor Roosevelt on her goodwill tour of Britain. Meanwhile, Dobbs must also address her adopted daughter Anna’s disturbing clingy behavior. The plot has more than its fair share of contrivances, including one involving the headmistress of Anna’s school that almost drags down the entire book. Series fans will find the characters’ personal development gratifying. (Mar.)
A superb combination of mystery, thriller, and psychological study with an emphasis on prejudice and hatred.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“In A Sunlit Weapon, Maisie’s pluck, intelligence and moral fortitude are on full display.” — Washington Post
“Winspear weaves the many components of this mystery together skillfully to create another riveting entry in this long-standing series.” — Library Journal
“Over 16 novels spanning three decades, Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs has lived. In real life, her quiet bravery, compassion and dogged pursuit of the truth would have made her one of the Greatest Generation, a lesson in survival under the grimmest circumstances. The lessons are hard-won in The Consequences of Fear, set in the fall of 1941 but no less relevant today…. Fans and newcomers to the series will root for Dobbs and the other well-drawn characters.” — Los Angeles Times on The Consequences of Fear
“Outstanding…. Maisie and her loving family of supporting characters continue to evolve and grow in ways sure to win readers’ hearts. Winspear is writing at the top of her game.” — Publishers Weekly, starred review on The Consequences of Fear
“Fast-paced… Winspear never sugarcoats the horrors of war, and alongside the camaraderie shown by these characters and the Londoners surrounding them deliver terrible truths that must be endured…. also recommend it as a less- weighty read-alike for Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See.” — Booklist, starred review on The Consequences of Fear
"A fast-paced tale of mystery and spycraft whose exploration of inner doubts and fears makes it much more." — Kirkus on The Consequences of Fear
“Series fans will find the characters’ personal development gratifying.” — Publishers Weekly
“’Sunlit’ sheds light on the United States' slow entry into the war, as well as the British response to that, while taking Maisie in bold new directions, personally and professionally.” — Star Tribune
“There’s a lot going on in the seventeenth Maisie Dobbs mystery starring the intrepid investigator… Winspear manages the multifarious narratives with aplomb.” — Booklist
“No one writes historical mysteries quite like Jacqueline Winspear, and her latest Maisie Dobbs novel should be a fitting continuation of the series, this one featuring a drop-in from none other than Eleanor Roosevelt (and we all know how good Winspear is at writing strong women with wit and verve).” — CrimeReads
“With so many strands … it is hard to anticipate a satisfying conclusion. But Winspear pulls it off brilliantly.” — Daily Mail, UK
“Profoundly humane and unflinchingly honest, A Sunlit Weapon marks another stellar installment in Winspear’s luminous body of work.” — The Free Lance Star
Over 16 novels spanning three decades, Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs has lived. In real life, her quiet bravery, compassion and dogged pursuit of the truth would have made her one of the Greatest Generation, a lesson in survival under the grimmest circumstances. The lessons are hard-won in The Consequences of Fear, set in the fall of 1941 but no less relevant today…. Fans and newcomers to the series will root for Dobbs and the other well-drawn characters.
Fast-paced… Winspear never sugarcoats the horrors of war, and alongside the camaraderie shown by these characters and the Londoners surrounding them deliver terrible truths that must be endured…. also recommend it as a less- weighty read-alike for Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See.
In A Sunlit Weapon, Maisie’s pluck, intelligence and moral fortitude are on full display.
In A Sunlit Weapon, Maisie’s pluck, intelligence and moral fortitude are on full display.
Fast-paced… Winspear never sugarcoats the horrors of war, and alongside the camaraderie shown by these characters and the Londoners surrounding them deliver terrible truths that must be endured…. also recommend it as a less- weighty read-alike for Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See.
Over 16 novels spanning three decades, Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs has lived. In real life, her quiet bravery, compassion and dogged pursuit of the truth would have made her one of the Greatest Generation, a lesson in survival under the grimmest circumstances. The lessons are hard-won in The Consequences of Fear, set in the fall of 1941 but no less relevant today…. Fans and newcomers to the series will root for Dobbs and the other well-drawn characters.
Over 16 novels spanning three decades, Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs has lived. In real life, her quiet bravery, compassion and dogged pursuit of the truth would have made her one of the Greatest Generation, a lesson in survival under the grimmest circumstances. The lessons are hard-won in The Consequences of Fear, set in the fall of 1941 but no less relevant today…. Fans and newcomers to the series will root for Dobbs and the other well-drawn characters.
02/04/2022
In the 17th title in Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series (after Consequences of Fear), Maisie is newly married to American Mark Scott and they have formally adopted young Anna to create a blended family. The first strand of mystery comes from Officer Jo Hardy, a female pilot who ferries various aircraft in the war effort. She has a friend who crashed and died in an apparent accident while ferrying a Spitfire. Jo is convinced a mysterious male figure shot at her on an earlier flight in the same area. As Maisie investigates, she wades into murky waters when a U.S. serviceman is found bound and gagged and another person goes missing in the same spot as the crash. Things get muddier still because Mark is working on the security for Eleanor Roosevelt's visit to the UK, and information Maisie reveals spells trouble for the first lady's safety. On the home front, Maisie must decide how to handle her adopted daughter's ill treatment at school. Is it just schoolyard bullies, or bad leadership? VERDICT Winspear weaves the many components of this mystery together skillfully to create another riveting entry in this long-standing series.—Kristen Stewart
Narrator Orlagh Cassidy uses her talent with accents and voices to draw listeners into the world of the indomitable Maisie Dobbs. In addition to masterfully delivering the diverse personalities of the returning characters, including Maisie’s American husband, Mark, Cassidy provides a convincing voice for visiting American First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Winspear imparts insights on the courageous women pilots who served in WWII and the ways that American racism impacted Black soldiers stationed in the UK. Winspear, partnered with Cassidy, dramatically conveys the emotional impact of war on the soldiers and their families. The magic in this series is how the author’s words and the narrator’s voices together create an engrossing listening experience that combines historical facts, psychology, mystery, romance, and suspense. E.Q. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
★ 2022-02-05
In 1942, Maisie Dobbs gets embroiled in diverse cases that involve her own family.
Jo Hardy, a pilot for Britain's Air Transport Auxiliary, is ferrying a plane across England when she's shot at from the ground. When Jo and a friend return to the spot to investigate, they find a Black American soldier tied up in a barn who claims that his White soldier friend has been kidnapped. Later, Jo realizes that in the segregated American Army, Pvt. Matthias Crittenden is in deep trouble, and he'll be held for the murder of the missing soldier. After Jo’s friend is killed during another plane delivery, Jo calls on Maisie, who’s living with her extended family in Kent, to investigate. Only the pull of Maisie’s highly placed American husband, Mark Scott, allows her to question Crittenden. Meanwhile, Maisie, who hates injustice of any sort, learns that her own adopted daughter is being bullied in school, another problem she resolves to straighten out. Maisie visits the barn and finds new evidence that may prove a connection between Charlie’s disappearance, whoever shot at Jo's plane, and the impending visit of Eleanor Roosevelt, which worries Mark because of a credible threat to Maisie’s safety. Maisie’s ability to talk to all sorts of people and discern the truth helps her untangle a complicated mystery involving miscreants whose lives have been so warped that they’ve lost all empathy for others.
A superb combination of mystery, thriller, and psychological study with an emphasis on prejudice and hatred.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940176445190 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | HarperCollins |
| Publication date: | 03/22/2022 |
| Series: | Maisie Dobbs Series |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
| Sales rank: | 778,434 |
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