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kamall01's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
tarynblecher's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
illmunkeys's review against another edition
4.0
Maisie Dobbs is billed as a mystery. It contains a private investigator, an wife accused of adultery, and (gasp!) a potential murder. However, the length of the mystery is about one quarter of its entire novel.
Jacqueline Winspear has written a period piece, beautiful and terrible in its setting, with a minor mystery wedged in there to keep the plot moving forward at a decent clip. Well worth reading.
Jacqueline Winspear has written a period piece, beautiful and terrible in its setting, with a minor mystery wedged in there to keep the plot moving forward at a decent clip. Well worth reading.
mollyzor's review against another edition
2.0
Boring! Maisie is a boring character. Her poverty and death of her mother are supposed to make the reader feel bad for her, and it works...for about a minute. The rest of her life goes about as well as it could (considering where she started). She gets a good job. Her employers learn she's smart and have a tutor for her. She goes to college. It was just boring. And the mystery itself was not well fleshed out. In fact, I barely remember it now (nearly 3 months later). Something about a guy stealing injured veteran's money. The writing was juvenile and I was not invested in the characters. Won't be reading the rest of the series and definitely think this is one you can skip.
mirrorball613's review against another edition
3.0
3.5/5. Even though it wasn't my favorite book, this was still a good series to start the year off with. I plan on continuing the series because I loved the mystery in the beginning, but I do feel this book was background-heavy instead of mystery-heavy. I love reading historical fiction so I didn't mind as much, but I do wish there was more action and detective work. This could probably be skipped if you don't care about Maisie's background as much.
bobskat's review against another edition
4.0
Very entertaining. Now to get on with reading the rest of the books in the series!
atom118's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
3.0
A nice narrative, but not a very exciting mystery.
angelam_jn's review against another edition
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
aaareading's review against another edition
3.0
Maisie Dobbs came to me highly recommended, and while I did enjoy it eventually there were parts that were a little hard to get through. The book is split into three parts. First we meet Maisie as an independent woman, setting up her investigative office in post WWI London. She works her first case and is sent directly into another, with both personal and professional directives. Just as you get invested in that storyline, we are sent back to the past and learn about Maisie’s upbringing and education, as well as her time as a nurse at the front in WWI. Her relationships are mostly developed in this part, but it felt like a bit of a slog for me. Maybe just because it bucks convention, but the insertion of a full section of backstory in the midst of the novel made the book feel a bit choppy. This section could almost be its own novel, it’s not like it was a quick flashback. Finally we get back to the action, which is the most fascinating part of the story. There’s a bit of suspense although the big moment at the end was a bit far fetched and unbelievable to me. Maisie is a bit of a perfect character, and she is almost flawless which makes her one big regret a little shocking and out of character. I’d have liked it better if she was a bit more imperfect the whole way through I guess.
ker0wyn's review against another edition
4.0
Fantastic! I decided it was time to finally try and get over my prejudice against mystery books so I decided to start with Maisie Dobbs. I knew it would be easier if I picked something a little more historical than your average James Patterson fare (what can I say? I need a hook!). I figured, even if it followed the normal mystery tropes at least I might learn something along the way.
Then, the most delightful thing happened- Winspear actually managed to avoid all the things that normally bug the crap out of me with mystery novels! I'll just say right off the bat that the most important aspects of a book for me are a) great characters, and b) a setting I can really get into. The reason I don't normally enjoy mystery books, then, is that I've found that many of them often lack greatly in those two areas.
Firstly, characters: I have often found superficial main characters who merely exists to further the plot and throw a little sass into the mix (Stephanie Plum, anyone?). Here I found Maisie Dobbs to be a wonderfully fleshed out and complex character who is interesting in and of herself. The mystery is an interesting part of the story, but by no means the ONLY part, and it completely works with the entire story line, fitting in seamlessly with where the character is at in her life.
I often get annoyed, too, when it feels like the main character has gotten through the events of the book entirely unscathed. I don't want them to be the same person at the end--I want them affected by what they have experienced. I want to be able to go back to the beginning of the book and see how much they have changed. I like a rousing plot as much as the next gal, but what's the point if it's "business as usual"? Where's the emotional satisfaction? I just can't deal with wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am sort of plots- yeah, yeah, yeah, stuff happens and then HERE'S THE KILLER! Wasn't that tidy? None of that here. Maisie ends up wrestling with some major demons she's been avoiding.
Ok, now for setting: I read for escapism- let's be honest here! I like to be transported to another time, another world. I want to learn something new or imagine someplace entirely different. This book hit for me on this level, as well. It is very obvious the author was meticulous about researching the time period, and nothing ever felt forced. She managed to evoke so many different aspects of the time span she covered, from the class struggles at the turn of the century, to the chaos and uncertainty of WWI and the scars that remained after the war. Details were used effortlessly, never feeling as if the author was trying to fit in one more neato fact she learned that she just couldn't leave out.
Ok, I need to wrap this up, so I'm just going to end with: Gee, I guess I kinda liked it!
Then, the most delightful thing happened- Winspear actually managed to avoid all the things that normally bug the crap out of me with mystery novels! I'll just say right off the bat that the most important aspects of a book for me are a) great characters, and b) a setting I can really get into. The reason I don't normally enjoy mystery books, then, is that I've found that many of them often lack greatly in those two areas.
Firstly, characters: I have often found superficial main characters who merely exists to further the plot and throw a little sass into the mix (Stephanie Plum, anyone?). Here I found Maisie Dobbs to be a wonderfully fleshed out and complex character who is interesting in and of herself. The mystery is an interesting part of the story, but by no means the ONLY part, and it completely works with the entire story line, fitting in seamlessly with where the character is at in her life.
I often get annoyed, too, when it feels like the main character has gotten through the events of the book entirely unscathed. I don't want them to be the same person at the end--I want them affected by what they have experienced. I want to be able to go back to the beginning of the book and see how much they have changed. I like a rousing plot as much as the next gal, but what's the point if it's "business as usual"? Where's the emotional satisfaction? I just can't deal with wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am sort of plots- yeah, yeah, yeah, stuff happens and then HERE'S THE KILLER! Wasn't that tidy? None of that here. Maisie ends up wrestling with some major demons she's been avoiding.
Ok, now for setting: I read for escapism- let's be honest here! I like to be transported to another time, another world. I want to learn something new or imagine someplace entirely different. This book hit for me on this level, as well. It is very obvious the author was meticulous about researching the time period, and nothing ever felt forced. She managed to evoke so many different aspects of the time span she covered, from the class struggles at the turn of the century, to the chaos and uncertainty of WWI and the scars that remained after the war. Details were used effortlessly, never feeling as if the author was trying to fit in one more neato fact she learned that she just couldn't leave out.
Ok, I need to wrap this up, so I'm just going to end with: Gee, I guess I kinda liked it!