Quick Book Reviews Blog

  Short Summary Jacqueline Winspear has turned Maisie Dobbs into an essential instrument of national security in her eponymous long-standing series, and in the seventeenth instalment, titled A Sunlit Weapon , she plays a role in safeguarding the First Lady of the United States, Eleanor Roosevelt. Following a couple of attacks on British pilots, Maisie is called upon by her friend to lend a hand in wild investigation setting her on the trail of a deadly conspiracy ripe for execution.

  Short Summary Jacqueline Winspear has forced Maisie Dobbs through a number of war-time trials and murder investigations, cementing her as the best detective in Occupied Europe. In the latest novel of the Maisie Dobbs series, The Consequences of Fear , Maisie is pushed to investigate a dangerous murderer with deep-seated motivations going all the way back to the First World War.

  Jacqueline Winspear has sent Maisie Dobbs chasing after many threads connecting to the Second World War over the course of the series, and in the fifteenth novel, The American Agent , she investigates the strange murder of an American war correspondent during the Blitz in London.  Though the act is concealed by British authorities, the case finds its way into Maisie's lap, and with the help of an agent from the US Department of Justice, they try to unravel the mystery as death rains upon the country in the form of German bombers.

  Ronald H. Balson has dragged Liam Taggart through a number of sordid cases, but none hit as close to home as the one he is faced with in The Trust . In this fourth novel of the Liam Taggart and Catherine Lockhart series, the private investigator returns to his childhood home upon his uncle's passing, only to learn the man predicted his own murder and decreed in his last will to postpone the distribution of the inheritance until the killer is found.

  Jacqueline Winspear has certainly turned Maisie Dobbs into a recognizable landmark in the modern detective genre, and in the fourteenth book of the series, titled To Die but Once , the beloved heroine returns to action in the months following Britain's declaration of war on Germany. This time she is tasked with tracing the disappearance of a young apprentice who happened to be working on a very sensitive government contract.

Jacqueline Winspear has dragged Maisie Dobbs through a number of life-changing investigations, and in the thirteenth book of the series, In This Grave Hour , she only ups the ante by taking us to September 3rd, 1939, when Britain declares war on Germany. In the midst of bombings and threats of invasion, Maisie is tasked with investigating a series of killings targeting those dispossessed from the previous war.

  Maggie Shipstead has waited a few years between her second book and her latest release, Great Circle , taking the time to craft an epic and humorous story centred on two women separated by decades.  The first is a daredevil whose plane mysteriously disappeared in the middle of the twentieth century, and the second one is an actress hired to portray the first woman many years later.

  Jacqueline Winspear has put Maisie Dobbs through the meat grinder of adventurism time and time again, sending her perhaps into the den of the most dangerous beast she has ever faced in Journey to Munich .  Tasked with retrieving a British subject about to be released from prison in Dachau, Maisie must venture deep into Hitler's Germany, and her Secret Service has some ideas about the whole situation.

  Francis Spufford really distinguished himself from the crowd recently with the publication of Light Perpetual , a novel which has garnered much acclaim in its short time on the shelves.  It's a work of historical fiction, tracing the infinite possibilities in the fates of five young children who tragically lose their lives in a bombing run on London in 1944.

  Jacqueline Winspear has subjected Maisie Dobbs to more life experiences than most of us could ever imagine or wish for, and in the eleventh book in The Maisie Dobbs series, titled A Dangerous Place , she returns for another round of intrigue. Finding herself in Gibraltar, Maisie becomes embroiled into a web of political intrigue following the murder of a photographer.

Ronald H. Balson has become a bit of a household name in the realm of Jewish historical fiction, coming back time and time again to the Second World War and the countless stories it still holds, undiscovered. In Katherine's Twins , the third book in the Liam Taggart and Catherine Lockhart series, the two protagonists help a holocaust survivor fulfill a childhood promise and to uncover a blurry past.

Jacqueline Winspear doesn't seem to run short on sordid adventures for the private eye Maisie Dobbs, and in the tenth book of the series, Leaving Everything Most Loved , she delves into London's Indian immigrant community. An Indian gentleman hires Maisie to find out who killed his sister two months ago, a case which turns truly alarming when another body is suddenly added to the pile.

Emma Donoghue has shown time and time again her special affinity for writing profound stories with complex and unique characters, something she does once again in her recent novel, The Pull of the Stars .  It tells the story of three women working in a maternity ward over three days as they deal with the ravages of war and disease in 1918 Ireland, as well as a flu pandemic which pushes their hospital to the brink of its capabilities.

Gretchen Berg has announced her arrival on the literary scene in style with the publication of her first novel, The Operator . In it, we follow the story of Vivian Dalton, a switchboard operator in a small Ohio town. One day, she overhears a rumour from a mysterious voice which might send her word to splinters. With time working against her, she begins digging her way to the truth behind the rumour, regardless of how much pain it could cause.

Locking her sights on the historical fiction genre, Lyndsay Faye has already birthed a few bestsellers, with The Paragon Hotel now joining their ranks as well. Taking place in 1921, it introduces us to Alice James, a fresh arrival in Oregon with a bullet wound and five thousand dollars in cash. Soon she finds her way to the titular hotel, but at the same time tensions start rising in the city with a flood Ku Klux Klan members making a home for themselves.

Melanie Benjamin has shown a remarkable penchant for writing detailed and profound historical fiction novels, and with The Girls in the Picture she further reinforces this notion. Starting by following Frances Marion as she tries to find her calling in the fledgling silent movie industry, we see her become friends with Mary Pickford (who had the title of “America's Sweetheart”), and the two trudge onward to realize their grand ambitions in uncharted territory.

Fiona Valpy has certainly entered the realm of literature in great style last year, and with The Dressmaker's Gift she continues her conquest of our bookshelves by telling a grand story of love, loss, terror and happiness. One part of the story takes us to 1940 Paris, where three seamstresses are trying their best to live under the occupation. The other part of the story takes us two generations later, as a granddaughter to one of those seamstresses unravels her own family history.

Ta-Nehisi Coates is quickly gaining a reputation in the literary world as an author who dares to explore the tragic chapters in American history, never wanting them to be left forgotten. In The Water Dancer , he takes us to the immensely bloody calamity which was the American Civil War as we follow a young man named Hiram in search of his long lost mother, as well as his own place in a world torn asunder by conflict.

T. Greenwood has earned many awards and accolades for her profound and piercing stories, and her recent novel Keeping Lucy is certainly another welcome notch in her career. The novel tells a story inspired by true events, following a mother who sets out to rescue her daughter Lucy, born with Down Syndrome, from a special school which turns out to be a real hell on Earth... sending her down the path of becoming a fully-fledged fugitive.

Alice Hoffman has quite the unique flair in telling her stories, and The World That We Knew only further affirms this, taking us to an alternate view of Europe in 1941, colored heavily by the author's own brand of magical realism. The story follows a twelve-year-old girl, Lea, sent away by her mother to hide her from the Nazi regime. With the help of a Rabbi's daughter, Ettie, and a magical golem made specially for Lea, the trio set out on their own unforgettable adventures where evil waits at every corner.