At this point, I’ve lost track of how many Maisie Dobbs historical mysteries I’ve reviewed. But it’s a testament to Jacqueline Winspear’s talents as a writer that I continue to anticipate each new installment in the series and look forward to reading and writing about her ongoing adventures.

In Winspear’s latest novel, THE CONSEQUENCES OF FEAR, Maisie is juggling many different --- and, in some cases, competing --- pressures, all while World War II rages on. Maisie has (more or less) safely ensconced her closest friends and family in the Kent countryside, including her recently adopted daughter Anna, who has taken to country life and horseback riding. But Maisie still must travel back and forth to her London flat and office regularly, not only to oversee her own private investigation business, but also for her top-secret war intelligence duties for which she’s been recruited.

"Jacqueline Winspear clearly isn’t slowing down one iota in her 16th novel about Maisie Dobbs, and neither is her protagonist."

In this case, both types of work may be related. The novel opens with a young message runner, Freddie Hackett, witnessing a brutal fight and murder on his way to deliver a letter to a man whom he believes may be the murderer. By the time he reports the crime to Scotland Yard, the body is gone, and the police chalk it up to the imaginings of a traumatized boy. But when Maisie is brought into the case, she suspects something more complicated might be going on, especially when a body matching Freddie’s description of the victim is dragged out of the Thames.

What’s more, Maisie encounters a man matching Freddie’s description of the killer when she’s in Scotland helping to screen potential agents for the resistance. Some have a personal connection to Maisie and her close friends, making it especially harrowing when she knows she’s sending them into danger. And to top it all off, she is trying hard to maintain her romantic relationship with Mark Scott, an American agent. Like Maisie, he has a lot of demands on his time, but they are doing their best to make a go of it. Maisie’s stepmother wishes he would put a ring on it, but Maisie is just trying to navigate her first serious relationship since the untimely death of her first husband.

Jacqueline Winspear clearly isn’t slowing down one iota in her 16th novel about Maisie Dobbs, and neither is her protagonist. And (without giving too much away), as the book closes, both Maisie’s life and World War II are about to enter interesting new phases. I certainly will look forward to more stories about Maisie, and I imagine I’m not the only one.