Maisie Dobbs and Precious Ramotswe Return!

It's a great day for mystery lovers! Two of our most popular series have new books out in hardcover this week: Jacqueline Winspear with her Maisie Dobbs series and Alexander McCall Smith with his No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series.

In A Lesson in Secrets, Maisie Dobbs accepts an undercover assignment from Scotland Yard and Britain's Secret Service, posing as a junior lecturer at a private college in Cambridge to monitor any activities "not in the interests of His Majesty's government." Shortly thereafter, the college's controversial pacifist founder and principal, Greville Liddicote, is murdered. To solve this mystery, Maisie must overcome a reluctant Secret Service, discover shameful hidden truths about Britain's conduct during the Great War, and face off against the rising powers of the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei -- the Nazi Party -- in Britain.

A Lesson in Secrets is the eighth installment of the Maisie Dobbs series, following The Mapping of Love and Death, now available in paperback. Winspear was born in the UK; she currently lives in the Bay Area. You can read more about her background -- and what inspired her to write about this period of time in the world -- at her website. I know Jacqueline from a previous life, and I can tell you from personal experience that she is a most delightful person. Her books are both well researched and well loved.

The Twelfth (!!) installment of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party, follows on the heels of The Double Comfort Safari Club (now out in paperback). As associate detective Grace Makutsi prepares to tie the knot with furniture saleman Phuti Radiphuti, Mma Precious Ramotswe tackles several challenges: an ill-advised candidate for the Botswana Parliament, a runaway father of twins, and mysterious sightings of Ramotswe's beloved white van, which her husband sold for parts.

Alexander McCall Smith is an amazingly prolific author (more than 60 books!), with five series underway currently: The No. 1 Ladies' Detectve Agency series, The Isabel Dalhousie series, The Portuguese Irregular Verbs series, The 44 Scotland Street series, and the newly started Corduroy Mansions series. Like Maisie Dobbs, Precious Ramotswe is a dearly loved character, and her fans eagerly pounce on the newest installment each time. Smith was born in what is now known as Zimbabwe and taught law at the University of Botswana. He currently lives in Scotland. You can read more about him and about his myriad other books at his website.