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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
I've read all 9 books in this series loved them all. This is her latest effort and probably one of my favorites.
This continues to be a favorite series for me! On to the next one!
Fascinating to read a story of someone in Europe at the beginning of Hitler’s rise.
Former WWI nurse, now a private detective and psychologist Masie Dobbs is drawn into a case after a local East End man meets with a mysterious death in 1933 London--was he running errands for a reporter hot on the trail of pro-Nazi Tories? Was it the local drunken bully? Why is Winston Churchill lurking around the edges of the case with a Canadian press baron? Winspear is an expert with the class consciousness, WWI fallout and atmosphere of interwar Britain, and mixing personal and international motives for the crimes at the center of her stories.
challenging
dark
mysterious
I really love Maisie Dobbs and the world she faces. I appreciate learning more about life in England in between the World Wars and gaining a deeper understanding of what life was really like then. Although not fact-paced and action-packed, the books pull me along and leave me feeling thoughtful and satisfied. Well done!
There are two mysteries here: will Maisie Dobbs ever heal enough so that she can love someone fully, and, can it ever be justified to let a murder go unpunished? The detection here is minimal, but the depiction of an England still shuddering from the last war and eyeing Hitler with dread is what makes this book worthwhile.
I liked this one even a little bit more than previous Maisie Dobbs books, as the underlying social themes included feminism and the dignity of individuals with disabilities! Love that!
Covent Garden's costermongers have come to Maisie Dobbs with the news of a suspicious death - beloved Eddit Pettit, a mentally impaired man whose talent with horses and picture-perfect memory made him a valued part of the community, has died in an apparent accident. But the costermongers feel that there was something more at play, and they offer a collection to Maisie to solve the case. Having known Eddie as a child, Maisie has a personal connection to this case, and is surprised when the investigation takes turns towards the other important people in her life. Her dear friend Priscilla Partridge's husband seems to be part of this tangled web, as do other writers and publishers - and in the volatile spring of 1933, motives are not always what they seem to be.
Winspear has plumbed much of the depths of WWI for her readers, and this book will not disappoint. Maisie and her crew are being brought to the brink of WWII in subtle and revealing ways that give the reader a better idea of the politics surrounding Hitler's rise to power, and the political jockeying that occurred in context. Where textbooks paint this struggle in broad strokes of black and white, Maisie quietly lifts the curtains on all the shades of gray that her contemporaries encountered as they strategically sought to prevent the horrors that they experienced only fifteen years or so earlier. The series is picking up steam and urgency again, and is enhanced by the subplot of Maisie's love life taking another turn for the worse - with her upbringing and background overshadowing the liaison with the son of her former employer. While WWII is a foregone conclusion for readers, Maisie's personal life is much less assured, and will keep people reading avidly for volumes to come.
Winspear has plumbed much of the depths of WWI for her readers, and this book will not disappoint. Maisie and her crew are being brought to the brink of WWII in subtle and revealing ways that give the reader a better idea of the politics surrounding Hitler's rise to power, and the political jockeying that occurred in context. Where textbooks paint this struggle in broad strokes of black and white, Maisie quietly lifts the curtains on all the shades of gray that her contemporaries encountered as they strategically sought to prevent the horrors that they experienced only fifteen years or so earlier. The series is picking up steam and urgency again, and is enhanced by the subplot of Maisie's love life taking another turn for the worse - with her upbringing and background overshadowing the liaison with the son of her former employer. While WWII is a foregone conclusion for readers, Maisie's personal life is much less assured, and will keep people reading avidly for volumes to come.
This was definitely a complicated and personal case for Maisie. On top of it all, the historical changes in the world added a whole other dimension to the tension of the book. In many ways, it was unsettling for both Maisie and myself as things progressed. It will be interesting where the next book, [b:Leaving Everything Most Loved|18089948|Leaving Everything Most Loved|Jacqueline Winspear|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1396227773l/18089948._SY75_.jpg|21547733] takes us.