The White Lady : A British Historical Mystery

The White Lady introduces yet another extraordinary heroine from Jacqueline Winspear, creator of the bestselling Maisie Dobbs series—former wartime operative Elinor White, a veteran of two wars and a trained killer who is drawn back into the world of menace she has been desperate to leave behind.

“A triumph. . . . Winspear creates in Elinor White (the ‘White Lady’), a complex, endearing, achingly flawed hero. This is both fast-paced and thoughtful, bold and nuanced, a thriller that is thrillingly human. I loved it.”—Louise Penny

England, 1947. Private, quiet “Miss White,” as Elinor is known, lives in a village in rural Kent, and to her fellow villagers is something of an enigma—well she might be, as Elinor occupies a “grace and favor” property, a rare privilege offered to faithful servants of the Crown for services to the nation. But the residents of Shacklehurst have no way of knowing how dangerous Elinor’s war work had been, or that their mysterious neighbor is haunted by her past.

It will take Susie, the child of a young farmworker named Jim Mackie, and his wife, Rose, to break through Miss White’s icy demeanor—but Jim has something in common with Elinor. He, too, is desperate to escape his past. When the powerful Mackie crime family demands a return of their prodigal son for an important job, Elinor assumes the task of protecting her neighbors, especially the bright-eyed Susie. In her quest to uncover the truth behind the family’s pursuit of Jim, Elinor unwittingly sets out on a treacherous path—yet it is one that leads to her own freedom.