Spring, 1937. Four years after she set sail from England, leaving everything she most loved behind, Maisie Dobbs is making her way home, only to find herself in a dangerous place. She was seeking peace in the hills of Darjeeling, but her sojourn is cut short when her stepmother summons her back to England. But on a ship bound for Southampton, Maisie realises she isn't ready to return.

Against the wishes of the captain she disembarks in Gibraltar - the British garrison town is teeming with refugees fleeing a brutal civil war across the border in Spain. Days after Maisie's arrival, a photographer is murdered, and Maisie becomes entangled in the case, drawing the attention of the British Secret Service as she is pulled deeper into political intrigue on 'the Rock' . . .