A dangerous place

In the eleventh Maisie Dobbs story, Maisie is on the way home to England when she decides to stop for a while in Gibraltar. This is a damaged Maisie, not the indomitable force we became used to in previous books. In the four years since she left England, she has taken some serious blows and still isn't ready to face home and family again. She wants to pause and rest.
Of course that isn't in the cards. Almost immediately after arriving, Maisie literally stumbles over the body of a freshly murdered man. The local police soon rule that the man, a local photographer, was killed by an unknown vagrant intent on robbery and that the matter is closed. Maisie isn't satisfied and starts looking into the murder on her own.
Things escalate. It is 1937 and the Spanish Civil War is in full swing right next door. The death of the photographer seems somehow related. Maisie soon finds herself in a tangled web involving espionage, arms smugglers, lies, and secrets. The British secret service also takes an interest in her activities.
Maisie must move with care, but perhaps a case and a cause is what Maisie needs to put her life back together.

Aside: This is the lowest rated book in the series here on GoodReads. It seems that some of the fans of the series had trouble dealing with the changes Maisie had been through in her years away. Hence a lot of one and two star ratings. IMHO, those readers are dead wrong. This is actually one of the stronger books in the series.

4.5 stars rounded up.

Well, as others have said, the author covers a large amount of ground in the first couple of chapters...and as the series theme is mystery, not romance...moving the timeline ahead so quickly makes some sense. I enjoyed this one. I thought the backdrop was interesting - it covers a part of history generally not covered in textbooks in school. So I found myself googling and reading more about the area and time and players as I read the book. Very enjoyable. I look forward to her next book.