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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
"Leaving Everything Most Loved" is the tenth book in the Maisie Dobbs series. Our heroine, Maisie, is now charged with solving the murder of an Indian immigrant, Usha. The story has the normal mystery at its core but has a little bit of a darker feeling to it overall. Maisie still wants to solve the crime but she is preoccupied with some of the things going on in her personal life that she has no idea how to deal with. This book shows a very vulnerable side to Maisie.
Although this is the tenth book in the series, this particular book works very nicely as a standalone book. In fact, I myself am going back to read many of the books in this series. It isn't hard to see why this series is so popular. I really liked how this particular book explored the thoughts and prejudices of the day. The victim of the crime in this book is an Indian immigrant. Although the British had been in India for ages, there was a lot of prejudice, especially when Indians came to England. And although they had fought on the same side, many Brits still saw the Indians as lesser. The historical detail really pulled me into the book.
Maisie also is coping with a lot in this book. She is trying to decide what she wants out of life and out of love. She spends a lot of the book seemingly adrift. The end of the book had a hint of what was to come for Maisie, which made me very excited to read the next book!
Although this is the tenth book in the series, this particular book works very nicely as a standalone book. In fact, I myself am going back to read many of the books in this series. It isn't hard to see why this series is so popular. I really liked how this particular book explored the thoughts and prejudices of the day. The victim of the crime in this book is an Indian immigrant. Although the British had been in India for ages, there was a lot of prejudice, especially when Indians came to England. And although they had fought on the same side, many Brits still saw the Indians as lesser. The historical detail really pulled me into the book.
Maisie also is coping with a lot in this book. She is trying to decide what she wants out of life and out of love. She spends a lot of the book seemingly adrift. The end of the book had a hint of what was to come for Maisie, which made me very excited to read the next book!
This series drives me crazy. I adored the first few books. Masie Dobbs was an interesting protagonist with an original point of view. She was a lower class girl, who was able to pull herself up into the rarefied strata of the British upper class. She caught a lot of breaks along the way. Now she is a psychologist and investigator, called into work with Scotland Yard on the murder is a young Indian woman. Soon another Indian woman is also murdered; both of them residing in the same hostel. Maisie is also investigating her life. She lives with and loves a man who will become a lord, but she doesn't know if that is the life she really wants to lead. While the story and mystery are well-written and plotted, I was annoyed by Maisie's constant introspection about her life and choices. I will read the next in the series just to see how Winspear resolves Maisie's search for meaning, but it may be the end for me.
I'm surprised at the reviews rating this Maisie Dobbs novel so highly, and comments by readers that they consider it the best of the series. I have a different point of view. This novel felt like a weary effort on the part of the author, and I became weary in the reading of it. There was much recycling of Maisie's dithering about her relationship with James Compton, her reluctance to bring closure to her relationship with her deceased mentor, and her manner of interacting with various secondary characters. Maisie's thoughts and reactions have become entirely predictable. Although there were occasional flashes of the fine writing that has marked all of Winspear's novels about Maisie Dobbs, the plot of this novel had a clunkiness to it and a going-through-the-motions feel.
3.5 Stars. It lagged a little, and yet at the end I was a bit teary. Will I keep reading the series? Of course.
Maisie investigates the death of two young Indian women while James puts on the pressure to marry. Her longing to find herself through travel to India is piqued by the intricacies of the case.
Wondered if this was the final Maisie novel as it had a feel of wrapping up all old stories. Was a fun read.
Wondered if this was the final Maisie novel as it had a feel of wrapping up all old stories. Was a fun read.
Another well written mystery. What I do admit to getting tired of however, is Maisie's need to "find herself." She has been trying to find herself in the entire series. You think she has found herself only to find in the next novel that she hasn't. It gets old and a bit whiney. Get over yourself Maisie! However, that is really a side note in the actual book, so it only gets a one star detraction.
Leaving Everything Most Loved is book #10 in Jacqueline Winspear's cosy crime series. It is now 1933 and Winspear deftly weaves a modern day issue into her historical fiction. Scotland Yard requires Maisie's help to solve the problem of two murdered Indian women. The impact of racism, colonialism and the class system (in both England and India) all come under scrutiny via Winspear's more familiar themes of belonging, self-reflection and the lingering after effects of trauma and prejudice.
Full review here - http://bronasbooks.blogspot.com.au/2017/06/maisie-dobbs-saves-day.html
Full review here - http://bronasbooks.blogspot.com.au/2017/06/maisie-dobbs-saves-day.html
We're moving back a bit from Maisie's magical ways of knowing and more towards actual investigations again, which is nice.