An unexpected inheritance from her grandmother offers Libby Pulford the opportunity to escape her abusive marriage and return to her Lancashire roots with her young son Ned. But her domineering husband Steven won't let her go so easily.
Early 1938. Maisie Dobbs is back in England. She is intercepted on a walk by two Secret Service men. The German government has agreed to release a British subject from prison, but only into the hands of his family. The Secret Service want Maisie - who bears a striking resemblance to the daughter - to retrieve the man from the outskirts of Munich.
DI Owen Sheen is determined to restore the professional reputation of suspended DC Aoife McCusker, and to solve the case of the boy found buried in the Irish boglands. But it's not going to be easy...