9780749029135Synopsis: “Elinor White, known locally as ‘the White lady’, is living a solitary, quiet life in a grace-and-favour cottage in the Kent countryside. Unbeknownst to her neighbours, she is the veteran of two world wars, a trained killer and former intelligence agent.

Yet Elinor’s private and seemingly tranquil existence conceals a past trauma that comes to the fore when she is drawn into the predicament of a local man entangled with one of the most dangerous crime families in London.

A treacherous path lies ahead, but it may be one that ultimately leads Elinor to a future unshackled from her own painful history.”

My Review

As you know I’ve been reading Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs series for years, so when I saw that she had a  standalone thriller out this year I was very keen to read it. Fortunately I saw a tweet from the publisher offering proofs and I got one!

I really enjoyed my time with Elinor White. I thought she was a fantastic character, and I loved following her journey from a Belgian pre-teen in World War One, to a mysterious independent woman in post war England. I enjoyed the way Jacqueline Winspear took me through three timelines to gradually reveal the reason why she got involved with a young family in a village in Kent.

As always Jacqueline Winspear writes about really interesting aspects of the time. I didn’t know much about Belgium during the Great War, or the criminal element of post war London, so went Googling for more information as I was reading.

This is a much darker and grittier story compared to the Maisie Dobbs series, and I hope Jacqueline Winspear has more thrillers on the way!  

Highly recommend it if you enjoy historical crime fiction set in the first half of the 20th Century.

Thanks so much to Allison & Busby for my lovely paperback proof.