Nothing much happens. But what is revealed as Maisie investigates past actions makes their fires and thefts and Zeppelin attack seem insignificant. Yet those actions become the crux of the mystery revealed, the secrets kept buried, the lies denied and forced to surface, turning this quaint countryside town into a study of the human psyche forced to look deeply inside itself. Maisie Dobbs, the Londoner psychologist and investigator, is not immune from self-discovery, as her professional façade melts away to reveal a woman hurting from the results of war and love and loss.

Nothing much happens. But nothing happens in a very compelling, delightful, and intriguing way. This novel is a page-turner, one that cannot be put down, one that is comforting and painful all at once, one that draws the reader into every conversation, every description, every emotion. It is a novel where the reader is thankful that not much more happens. What happens is quite enough to totally capture the reader.