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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
I decided to go ahead and read the last Jacqueline Winspear book that I had on Kindle just to get it out of my queue. It had been there for a long time and I was tired of seeing it. It turns out that this entry marks something of an end to one chapter of Maisie Dobbs' life and so it is a good "ending," a good place for me to pause in my reading of the Dobbs saga and move on to something else for a while.
Dobbs is dissatisfied with her life. She is a successful businesswoman, fabulously wealthy thanks to a bequest from her mentor, has a good and caring (and rich) man as a lover, and is well-respected everywhere she goes. In short, everyone loves Maisie, so why wouldn't she be discontented? Yeah, right!
This is actually one of the things that annoys me about this character. She really seems to have little actual depth of understanding of just how lucky she is. Oh, she gives lip service to such understanding, but it seems about paper-thin depth. Moreover, she never really faces any disapproval from society about her life or any major obstacles to her achieving her aims. Yes, everyone loves Maisie. It strains credulity.
Maisie's discontent this time in rooted in the fact that she doesn't really want to get married, although her lover is pressing her to do so, and she wants to travel, to visit distant lands as her mentor Maurice did. To do that would mean closing down her detective agency, but then what would become of her two employees? Not to worry! Everything falls magically into place, as it always does in the world of Maisie Dobbs.
Maisie decides that she wants to go to India, and what do you know? Just a couple of months before, an Indian woman living in London was murdered. The police have been unsuccessful in solving the crime. Indeed, they don't seem to have expended much effort on it. As Inspector Caldwell admits to Maisie, no one was pressing them for a solution.
Then the woman's brother shows up. He has traveled from India to light a fire under the investigation and find out what happened to his sister. Maisie Dobbs' name was given to him by one of his fellow countrymen who had been another mentor and adviser to Maisie. When he speaks to Caldwell, the police agree to contract with Maisie to carry on the investigation and try to bring some justice to the dead woman.
It turns out to be a complicated mystery that has roots stretching all the way back to India, and soon it becomes even more complicated when a friend of the murdered woman is also killed in the same manner as the first. As Maisie becomes more deeply involved in the investigation, she is more and more intrigued by Indian culture and by the Indians that she meets in the course of her inquiries, all of which makes her more definite than ever that she wants to travel to that exotic land.
But first she has to wrap up her investigation.
She does, of course, with minimal help this time from her assistant Billy Beale who is still suffering from the injuries that he sustained in An Elegy for Eddie or her secretary Sandra who is slowly emerging from her widow's shell and taking an interest in life once again.
So, everything gets tied up in a neat little bow. The villain is arrested, but he isn't really such a villain, even though he has murdered two women. He's a victim, too.
The lives of everyone she cares about have now fallen into place, just as Maisie would have wanted, so she is free to move on to her future. That moving on proceeds slowly as we are treated to a long summing up of Maisie's life so far and as she looks forward to her trip to India. But finally, she's on the boat and on her way.
It's a little difficult to see just where Winspear is going with this, but there are several more entries in the series, so undoubtedly, she has a plan. I think it would be interesting to see, just once, something not work out exactly as Maisie wants it to. Maybe the ship sinks on the way to India, or she loses all her money and is left with nothing but her native resources, or her lover James finally gets fed up with her and marries that dashing young aviatrix that he seems to have a lot in common with. Well, I can dream, can't I?
Dobbs is dissatisfied with her life. She is a successful businesswoman, fabulously wealthy thanks to a bequest from her mentor, has a good and caring (and rich) man as a lover, and is well-respected everywhere she goes. In short, everyone loves Maisie, so why wouldn't she be discontented? Yeah, right!
This is actually one of the things that annoys me about this character. She really seems to have little actual depth of understanding of just how lucky she is. Oh, she gives lip service to such understanding, but it seems about paper-thin depth. Moreover, she never really faces any disapproval from society about her life or any major obstacles to her achieving her aims. Yes, everyone loves Maisie. It strains credulity.
Maisie's discontent this time in rooted in the fact that she doesn't really want to get married, although her lover is pressing her to do so, and she wants to travel, to visit distant lands as her mentor Maurice did. To do that would mean closing down her detective agency, but then what would become of her two employees? Not to worry! Everything falls magically into place, as it always does in the world of Maisie Dobbs.
Maisie decides that she wants to go to India, and what do you know? Just a couple of months before, an Indian woman living in London was murdered. The police have been unsuccessful in solving the crime. Indeed, they don't seem to have expended much effort on it. As Inspector Caldwell admits to Maisie, no one was pressing them for a solution.
Then the woman's brother shows up. He has traveled from India to light a fire under the investigation and find out what happened to his sister. Maisie Dobbs' name was given to him by one of his fellow countrymen who had been another mentor and adviser to Maisie. When he speaks to Caldwell, the police agree to contract with Maisie to carry on the investigation and try to bring some justice to the dead woman.
It turns out to be a complicated mystery that has roots stretching all the way back to India, and soon it becomes even more complicated when a friend of the murdered woman is also killed in the same manner as the first. As Maisie becomes more deeply involved in the investigation, she is more and more intrigued by Indian culture and by the Indians that she meets in the course of her inquiries, all of which makes her more definite than ever that she wants to travel to that exotic land.
But first she has to wrap up her investigation.
She does, of course, with minimal help this time from her assistant Billy Beale who is still suffering from the injuries that he sustained in An Elegy for Eddie or her secretary Sandra who is slowly emerging from her widow's shell and taking an interest in life once again.
So, everything gets tied up in a neat little bow. The villain is arrested, but he isn't really such a villain, even though he has murdered two women. He's a victim, too.
The lives of everyone she cares about have now fallen into place, just as Maisie would have wanted, so she is free to move on to her future. That moving on proceeds slowly as we are treated to a long summing up of Maisie's life so far and as she looks forward to her trip to India. But finally, she's on the boat and on her way.
It's a little difficult to see just where Winspear is going with this, but there are several more entries in the series, so undoubtedly, she has a plan. I think it would be interesting to see, just once, something not work out exactly as Maisie wants it to. Maybe the ship sinks on the way to India, or she loses all her money and is left with nothing but her native resources, or her lover James finally gets fed up with her and marries that dashing young aviatrix that he seems to have a lot in common with. Well, I can dream, can't I?
This was one of the better Maisie Dobbs mysteries but too much of this book was focused on Maisie's personal matters for me.
I've gone through a love-hate relationship with Maisie Dobbs. For awhile the character development was too dark, repetitive. But then for awhile things moved along, Maisie finally started to come to terms with the past, but then other characters began to have drawn-out personal issues. I think Winspear is trying to make a valiant effort to show the collective psychological effects that the Great War had on an entire nation, but that exploration crosses the line and suffocates the mystery at the center of the story, as well as long-term character development. In all, this last installment gives me some hope that if Maisie returns for another round, things may finally turn a corner for poor Maisie and her circle.
A solid case for Maisie's team, and the resolution of a few stray plot points from previous volumes make this a strong storyline within the series.
In this book, Maisie Dobbs is up against self-righteous Christians who are “doing their best” to help a small community of Indian women who’ve come to England to be nannies, only to be abandoned by the English families once they’re no longer needed. Prejudice against Indians is prominent, even among those who have no idea they’re prejudiced. And the pain and loss of self-imposed exile from a beloved homeland is prominent throughout.
Two young Indian women - a former nanny and a former governess - are murdered, and a teenager boy has gone missing from the home where his mother is always suffering from debilitating migraines. Is there a connection between the two?
The bizarre outburst at the end of the last novel, where Maisie declares her desire for travel, is given context. Maisie wants to honor her mentor Maurice by following in his path, beginning in India. It’s fitting that this case involves the Indian expatriates of London. The books ends with Maisie on to her next adventure, and I’m guessing the next few books will be very different.
Two young Indian women - a former nanny and a former governess - are murdered, and a teenager boy has gone missing from the home where his mother is always suffering from debilitating migraines. Is there a connection between the two?
The bizarre outburst at the end of the last novel, where Maisie declares her desire for travel, is given context. Maisie wants to honor her mentor Maurice by following in his path, beginning in India. It’s fitting that this case involves the Indian expatriates of London. The books ends with Maisie on to her next adventure, and I’m guessing the next few books will be very different.
While this book, at first blush, seems to be a regular Maisie Dobbs (there's a murder of a person who is not in the norm of British society, and Indian woman in this case although there is a side story of a boy running away), there are also some larger themes going on, mainly of change. For most of the series, we've been seeing the same characters but what differentiates this series from others is that we do see people leave. The theme of Billy moving his family to Canada has been one woven throughout the books and really came to a head in the last book when Billy was beaten nearly to death.
A good book for moving the characters along but not as much for a good mystery story.
A good book for moving the characters along but not as much for a good mystery story.
While I appreciated many aspects of this story, it somehow felt incomplete - suddenly a case involving Empire just as Maisie is contemplating traveling abroad? The neat wrapping up of many character sub-plots also felt like a bit of a dodge, a bit too easily wrapped up. But I did, and do, admire Maisie and her honest, unstinting nature.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Lovely. I love this series because Winstead is willing to let characters grow and change. This book is definitely hinged on a big change in the world she has created. The mystery was engaging - perhaps a bit too much on how colorful and vibrant the Indian victim was, but I will spend any day with Maisie Dobbs, Investigator and Psychologist. <3
This was a timely read, given the current political climate and all the blatant acts of racial hatred and discrimination that have escalated since the election. I'm definitely curious to see what awaits Maisie in India.