Book cover excerpt:
In the third novel of this bestselling series, London investigator Maisie Dobbs faces grave danger as she returns to the site of her most painful memories from the Great War to resolve the mystery surrounding a pilot's death.
Agatha Christie's Miss Marple. Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone. Alexander McCall Smith's Precious Ramotswe. Every once in a while, a detective bursts on the scene who captures readers' imaginations---and hearts---and doesn't let go. And so it was with Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs, who made her debut just three years ago in the eponymous first book of her series and is already on her way to becoming a household name.
In the third novel of this unique and masterly crime series, a deathbed plea from his wife leads Sir Cecil Lawton to seek the aid of Maisie Dobbs, psychologist and investigator. As Maisie soon learns, Agnes Lawton never accepted that her aviator son was killed in the Great War, a torment that led her not only to the edge of madness but also to the doors of those who practice the dark arts and commune with the spirit world.
Maisie accepts the assignment--determined to prove Ralph Lawton either dead or alive--and in doing so is plunged into a case that tests her spiritual strength, as well as her regard for her mentor, Maurice Blanche. The mission also brings her together once again with her college friend Priscilla Evernden, who served in France and who lost three brothers to the war--one of whom, it turns out, had an intriguing connection to the missing Ralph Lawton.
Following on the heels of the triumphant Birds of a Feather, Pardonable Lies is the most compelling installment yet in the chronicles of Maisie Dobbs, "a heroine to cherish" (Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review).
I continue to love this series, but this one is a most troubling installment. Maisie goes thru a "dark night of the soul" that threatens her stability. You travel with her through her roller coaster of a case. Actually, there are 3 cases, and somehow they all have a connection. But the devastation to Maisie herself is really what moves this installment. Her relationship with her late mother is dipped into a little bit more. The spirituality side of Maisie comes thru even more here, and is what helps her deal with her memories of the war, a betrayal of trust, and attempts on her life. Quite an emotional tale, this one.
I have a hard time reviewing these books without giving something away, which is why I include the book cover excerpts. Needless to say, I haven't been disappointed by this series yet, and truly doubt I will be.
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Showing posts with label WWI. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WWI. Show all posts
Monday, May 12, 2008
Friday, May 9, 2008
Winspear, Jacqueline: Birds of a Feather
Book cover detail:
Jacqueline Winspear's marvelous and inspired debut, Maisie Dobbs, won her fans from coast to coast and raised her intuitive and resourceful heroine to the ranks of literature's favorite sleuths. Birds of a Feather finds Maisie on another dangerously intriguing adventure in London between the wars. It is the spring of 1930, and Maisie has been hired to find a runaway heiress. When three of the heiress's old friends are found dead, Maisie must race to find out who would want to kill these seemingly respectable young women before it's too late. As Maisie investigates she discovers that the answers lie in the unforgettable agony of the Great War.
This book is as good as the first, and lends even more insight into the world of the time and life after WWI. Details of the times that I first learned about in one of Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody books. To reveal it here would be to give away an important plot detail in the book, so read it and find out.
Jacqueline Winspear is rapidly joining the ranks of my favorite authors. I enjoy a good read that requires me to pay attention to even some of the smallest details. She delves into a spiritual level of investigation that insists that we each take stock in our own intuition and instincts. That to deny them or to push them aside as not worthy or notice is to deny part of ourselves, and part of our inherent warning system. Maisie Dobbs is a character that prompts us to use more of our "brain power", our intellect, our observations, our gut urges, etc. Brava!
_____
Jacqueline Winspear's marvelous and inspired debut, Maisie Dobbs, won her fans from coast to coast and raised her intuitive and resourceful heroine to the ranks of literature's favorite sleuths. Birds of a Feather finds Maisie on another dangerously intriguing adventure in London between the wars. It is the spring of 1930, and Maisie has been hired to find a runaway heiress. When three of the heiress's old friends are found dead, Maisie must race to find out who would want to kill these seemingly respectable young women before it's too late. As Maisie investigates she discovers that the answers lie in the unforgettable agony of the Great War.
This book is as good as the first, and lends even more insight into the world of the time and life after WWI. Details of the times that I first learned about in one of Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody books. To reveal it here would be to give away an important plot detail in the book, so read it and find out.
Jacqueline Winspear is rapidly joining the ranks of my favorite authors. I enjoy a good read that requires me to pay attention to even some of the smallest details. She delves into a spiritual level of investigation that insists that we each take stock in our own intuition and instincts. That to deny them or to push them aside as not worthy or notice is to deny part of ourselves, and part of our inherent warning system. Maisie Dobbs is a character that prompts us to use more of our "brain power", our intellect, our observations, our gut urges, etc. Brava!
_____
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Winspear, Jacqueline: Maisie Dobbs
From book cover:
She started as a maid in an aristocratic London household when she was thirteen. Her employer, Lady Rowan Compton, a suffragette, took the remarkably bright youngster under her wing and became her patron, aided by Maurice Blanche, a friend often retained as an investigator by the elite of Europe. It was he who first recognized Maisie's intuitive gifts and helped her to earn admission to prestigious Girton College at Cambridge where Maisie planned to complete her education.
The outbreak of war changed everything. Maisie trained as a nurse, then left for France to serve at the Front, where she found---and lost---an important part of herself.
Ten years after the Armistice, in the spring of 1929, Maisie sets up on her own as a private investigator, one who has learned that coincidences are meaningful, and truth elusive. Her very first case involves suspected infidelity but reveals something very different. In the aftermath of the Great War, a former officer has founded a convalescent refuge for those grievously wounded, ex-soldiers too shattered to resume normal life. It is a working farm known as The Retreat. When fate brings Maisie a second case involving The Retreat she must confront the ghost that has haunted her for ten years.
I was charmed and very moved by this book. The empathy and insight of the title character, Maisie Dobbs, is a delight to read. She sounds like a person everyone should be blessed to have in their life. And to read her backstory, it is touching and heartbreaking. And she uses her insight to aid her client(s).
Her first client is a gentleman who suspects his wife of infidelity. Maisie makes sure that she finds out what he intends to do with the information, and how he would react if it were proven true. She is an ethical person, who wants to make sure that nothing untoward and "evil" will come of her investigation. The story then spins into another case. The whole book is truly a joy to read and I cannot recommend it enough!
She started as a maid in an aristocratic London household when she was thirteen. Her employer, Lady Rowan Compton, a suffragette, took the remarkably bright youngster under her wing and became her patron, aided by Maurice Blanche, a friend often retained as an investigator by the elite of Europe. It was he who first recognized Maisie's intuitive gifts and helped her to earn admission to prestigious Girton College at Cambridge where Maisie planned to complete her education.
The outbreak of war changed everything. Maisie trained as a nurse, then left for France to serve at the Front, where she found---and lost---an important part of herself.
Ten years after the Armistice, in the spring of 1929, Maisie sets up on her own as a private investigator, one who has learned that coincidences are meaningful, and truth elusive. Her very first case involves suspected infidelity but reveals something very different. In the aftermath of the Great War, a former officer has founded a convalescent refuge for those grievously wounded, ex-soldiers too shattered to resume normal life. It is a working farm known as The Retreat. When fate brings Maisie a second case involving The Retreat she must confront the ghost that has haunted her for ten years.
I was charmed and very moved by this book. The empathy and insight of the title character, Maisie Dobbs, is a delight to read. She sounds like a person everyone should be blessed to have in their life. And to read her backstory, it is touching and heartbreaking. And she uses her insight to aid her client(s).
Her first client is a gentleman who suspects his wife of infidelity. Maisie makes sure that she finds out what he intends to do with the information, and how he would react if it were proven true. She is an ethical person, who wants to make sure that nothing untoward and "evil" will come of her investigation. The story then spins into another case. The whole book is truly a joy to read and I cannot recommend it enough!
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