In the summer of 1932 Maisie Dobbs's career takes an exciting new turn when she accepts an undercover assignment directed by Scotland Yard's Special Branch & the Secret Service. Posing as a junior lecturer she is sent to a private college in Cambridge to monitor any activities not in the interests of His Majesty's Government." When the college's controversial pacifist founder & principal Greville Liddicote is murdered Maisie is directed to stand back as Detective Chief Superintendent Robert Mac Farlane & Detective Chief Inspector Richard Stratton spearhead the investigation. She soon discovers however that the circumstances of Liddicote's death appear inextricably linked to the suspicious comings & goings of faculty & students under her surveillance. To unravel this web Maisie must overcome a reluctant Secret Service discover shameful hidden truths about Britain's conduct during the Great War & face off against the rising powers of the Nazi Party in Britain."