Jacqueline Winspear discusses A Sunlit Weapon

Click here to order a signed copy!

Jacqueline Winspear. A Sunlit Weapon (Harper, $27.99 Signed).

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. 

Jacqueline Winspear was born and raised in the county of Kent, England, and now lives in California. After graduating from the University of London’s Institute of Education, she worked in academic publishing, in higher education and in marketing communications in the UK. She emigrated to the United States in 1990, and while working in business she began to write articles about international education and travel for The Washington Post, Huffington Post, and other publications. In 2003 she turned to fiction with her New York Times bestselling Maisie Dobbs series, which has been translated into over twenty languages; was a New York Times Notable Book; won an Agatha, a Macavity, and an Alex Award; and was nominated for four other awards. In addition to fifteen Maisie Dobbs novels, Winspear has published one standalone novel about the Great War, The Care and Management of Lies, which was a finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. For more information, visit her at her website.