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pr727's review against another edition
3.0
The writing has improved significantly over the 9 Maisie books. And Maisie is slowly becoming a more likable person.
k_cavacini's review against another edition
5.0
I find myself getting a little frustrated with the storyline about Maisie's personal life. As always, the case that she's working on and her work life are interesting and the "will they or won't they" back and forth between James and Maisie just drags on. While I understand the complications in their relationship I'm starting to find that it takes away from the rest of the story. I look forward to there being some resolution to their story.
julianna_schock's review against another edition
5.0
I love the Maisie Dobbs books and I always will. I think Jacqueline Winspear did a fantastic and fascinating thing having Maisie take on a case that was so personal and have difficulty dealing with it. I think Jacqueline Winspear does a great job with keeping Maisie consistent, deep, and generally a good character and I think this book was one of her best.
evelikesbooks's review against another edition
4.0
The first one where the mystery didn't hinge on WWI. We are now gearing up for WWII.
weweresotired's review against another edition
3.0
See more reviews on Short & Sweet Reviews!
Elegy for Eddie, set in the early 1930s, follows private investigator Maisie Dobbs as she tries to unravel the seemingly accidental death of Eddie Pettit, a gentle man who took care of horses and did random tasks for factor workers and men in the market from time to time. Being a mystery novel, of course, his death is anything but accidental and Maisie finds herself involved in a complex inquiry that touches closer to home than she'd first thought.
Like many mystery novels, this is a more recent entry in a series, however, it's perfectly easy to get into without having read any of the previous novels. For the most part, the reader gets enough information on Maisie and her past that even the recurring characters seem familiar from the very start. So it's easy to jump into the action as Maisie investigates Eddie's death, navigates her own personal life, and deals with the way the investigation bleeds over into her own world.
Maisie is an interesting, although not always entirely sympathetic, character. She's a woman who came from nothing to wind up with her own private investigation firm, thanks largely to an inheritance from the man who mentored her. In this book, Maisie really seems to struggle with being between two worlds -- she hasn't forgotten what it was like working as a maid in a big house, but she knows just what wealth will help her accomplish. She sometimes acts with her heart in ways that are with the best of intentions, but which aren't always well received by people for various reasons. It annoyed me because she can come off as somewhat self-righteous and a know-it-all, but fortunately these traits are addressed within the plot and her actions improve over the course of the book.
The mystery itself takes lots of unexpected twists and turns and winds up in a place I hadn't expected at all. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that Eddie's death is much more complicated than even Maisie had thought. It's pretty cool to watch her as she starts to untangle the mystery, and as always, interesting to read a crime novel that doesn't take place in a contemporary setting.
This book is a very clean read, with most of the violence taking place off of the page, and no profanity that I can recall. It's a fun read that manages to mix crime-solving and personal drama in equal measures. Feel free to pick up the series with this book, or go back to the beginning of the series to get a better, more rounded picture of Maisie and her friends.
Elegy for Eddie, set in the early 1930s, follows private investigator Maisie Dobbs as she tries to unravel the seemingly accidental death of Eddie Pettit, a gentle man who took care of horses and did random tasks for factor workers and men in the market from time to time. Being a mystery novel, of course, his death is anything but accidental and Maisie finds herself involved in a complex inquiry that touches closer to home than she'd first thought.
Like many mystery novels, this is a more recent entry in a series, however, it's perfectly easy to get into without having read any of the previous novels. For the most part, the reader gets enough information on Maisie and her past that even the recurring characters seem familiar from the very start. So it's easy to jump into the action as Maisie investigates Eddie's death, navigates her own personal life, and deals with the way the investigation bleeds over into her own world.
Maisie is an interesting, although not always entirely sympathetic, character. She's a woman who came from nothing to wind up with her own private investigation firm, thanks largely to an inheritance from the man who mentored her. In this book, Maisie really seems to struggle with being between two worlds -- she hasn't forgotten what it was like working as a maid in a big house, but she knows just what wealth will help her accomplish. She sometimes acts with her heart in ways that are with the best of intentions, but which aren't always well received by people for various reasons. It annoyed me because she can come off as somewhat self-righteous and a know-it-all, but fortunately these traits are addressed within the plot and her actions improve over the course of the book.
The mystery itself takes lots of unexpected twists and turns and winds up in a place I hadn't expected at all. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that Eddie's death is much more complicated than even Maisie had thought. It's pretty cool to watch her as she starts to untangle the mystery, and as always, interesting to read a crime novel that doesn't take place in a contemporary setting.
This book is a very clean read, with most of the violence taking place off of the page, and no profanity that I can recall. It's a fun read that manages to mix crime-solving and personal drama in equal measures. Feel free to pick up the series with this book, or go back to the beginning of the series to get a better, more rounded picture of Maisie and her friends.
hgarf13's review against another edition
2.0
More about Maisie's unnecessary drama than the mystery.