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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
Just finished the last in the Maisie Dobbs series (so far, anyway), and I continue to love these books. Maisie never disappoints--she's a great character, and the stories are so interesting. A great combination of solving mysteries while also using the stories and characters to give you insight into the time period between World War I and World War II. How Europe was affected by WWI and how it led into WWII. Chilling and fascinating in a way that the history books never seem to be for me. Really reminds you why it is so important to study and learn from history.
This one was especially chilling as Winspear exposes the insidious nature of the rise of Nazi Germany and how it prayed on weak-minded people worn down by WWI and its aftermath--looking for leadership in all the wrong places. And how even those who weren't charmed by Hitler and the rise of fascist thought, often were lackadaisacal and didn't recognize the danger until it was too late.
This one was especially chilling as Winspear exposes the insidious nature of the rise of Nazi Germany and how it prayed on weak-minded people worn down by WWI and its aftermath--looking for leadership in all the wrong places. And how even those who weren't charmed by Hitler and the rise of fascist thought, often were lackadaisacal and didn't recognize the danger until it was too late.
Delightful
I always enjoy these books. They're fairly predictable, but something about the author's style keeps me coming back for more. I like seeing Maisie grow as a character as she works through her cases and her changing life.
I always enjoy these books. They're fairly predictable, but something about the author's style keeps me coming back for more. I like seeing Maisie grow as a character as she works through her cases and her changing life.
Maisie Dobbs, I do enjoy reading about your life and times. Speaking of time, there always seems to be enough of it in your daily life. I wish I knew your secret. I'll make my way through all the books eventually.
An excellent if somewhat transitional entry in this series. The status quo shift which began at the end of the last book continues in more concrete ways in this one. Several mysteries are pursued through the book, some are resolved, and much is set-up for future volumes or foreshadowed. I quite liked the central mystery and the characters it involved, though my favorite bits were the more everyday moments between Maisie and Billy and Maisie and her father.
2.5 stars. These books are light and entertaining. This was a good palette-cleanser book but the mystery was not as engrossing as some of the others.
It makes me sad to give this book two stars because I love this series and have enjoyed most of the other books. One of the things I admire about Winspear is her ability to weave stories of WWI and interwar Britain into her Maisie Dobbs novels without sacrificing the story. But in this book, the main plots involve the growing spectre of Nazism and the long shadows of a World War I mutiny, and the historical detail just overwhelms the storytelling. The subplot about organized crime did not dovetail smoothly with the rest of the book. Even if you like this series, you can skip this one, as it does not advance the ongoing stories of the characters in any significant way. I could summarize that part for you in a paragraph.
This entry isn't as strong as others in the series. There were an awful lot of threads in this story. I wish some of them would have been trimmed to make room for better development of the central plot. For example, the whole plot with Sandra didn't fit and took away from the central story. I wanted to hear more about women spies and their unseen and unappreciated work during the war. I loved the idea of the children's book at the center of the novel. A lot of the bits with supporting characters (Billy, Priscilla, James) felt like token scenes shoehorned in to the novel. I would rather not see a favorite character for a book than have the dissatisfying scenes that were in this story.
Not the strongest of the series but a good "filler" book. We're definitely heading into WWII territory with the first mentionings of the Nazi party in this book. I wonder how Maisie is going to handle that!
Continue to enjoy Maisie series. Comfortable like a friend and sometimes surprising.