Reviews

Elegy for Eddie by Jacqueline Winspear

Only show reviews with written explanations

fellie's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

2.5

liberrydude's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

It’s 1933. Maisie does some soul searching on herself and her relationships with others while investigating the murder of a man with Asperger Syndrome- Eddie. Eddie had a gift with horses, a veritable horse whisperer. He was taken advantage of due to his trusting nature and killed in an industrial accident. Eddie was a teenager when Maisie was a child and she grew up knowing him. Maisie and her assistant, Billie, end up finding more than they bargained for in this adventure. Two other men are murdered but their deaths are dismissed by the police as suicides. Powerful men and politics involved. To include Maisie’s lover. Winston Churchill makes an appearance. Maisie realizes her limitations and also makes some adjustments to her personal interactions with others. It will be interesting to see where her personal relationship goes in the next book and if the mounting concern over Hitler’s rise to power will be a recurring plot line.

whitneykey's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

romonko's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional informative mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I enjoyed this 8th book in the Maisie Dobbs series, but it was quite different than the books before this one. First of all, there really wasn't a murder, but we had to read almost the whole book to get to that revelation. Secondly, Maisie seems very uncertain and lost at times in this book. There are problems in her work life and in her personal life which don't really get resolved. Thirdly, the end was left open and the lead-in to the next book kind of pointed out to me that I probably wlil not continue with the series. Maisie is too headstrong and sanctimonious for me, and I find this takes away from the suspense of the story. I like Jacqueline Winspear's secondary characters, both the regulars and the new, better than the heroine herself. The book is set in early April 1933 and Maisie's new clients are friends and acquaintances from her girlhood. They are costermongers and they used to work with Maisie's father. They come to Maisie to ask her to look into the death of a man from her old neighbourhood. Eddie was a big and simple man, a gentle giant so to speak, and the costermongers are afraid that the death that was ruled an accident was not that, but a murder. As Maisie investigates, she crosses paths with some very powerful and influential people. As a background to the story there are hints and insinuations of the terrible war that is to come. I found the book mostly engrossing and I too wanted to find out what happened to Eddie, but at times the story dragged a bit with Maisie's personal baggage. I find that she is better tolerated in smaller doses. I am not sure if I will continue the series as I think Maisie's angst and uncertainly is to be repeated in future books..