Young, feisty Maisie Dobbs has recently set herself up as a private detective. Such a move may not seem especially startling. But this is 1929, and Maisie is exceptional in many ways. Having started as a maid to the London aristocracy, studied her way to Cambridge and served as a nurse in the Great War, Maisie has wisdom, experience and understanding beyond her years. Little does she realise the extent to which this strength of character is soon to be tested. For her first case forces her to uncover secrets long buried, and to confront ghosts from her own past! In Maisie, Jacqueline Winspear has created a character that readers will immediately take to their hearts. Her first case combines a gripping investigation with a moving portrait of love and loss. It marks the beginning of a wonderful new detective series.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Maisie Dobbs
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From School Library Journal
Adult/High School-Maisie is 14 when her mother dies, and she must go into service to help her father make ends meet. Her prodigious intellect and the fact that she is sneaking into the manor library at night to read Hume, Kierkegaard, and Jung alert Lady Rowan to the fact that she has an unusual maid. She arranges for Maisie to be tutored, and the girl ultimately qualifies for Cambridge. She goes for a year, only to be drawn by the need for nurses during the Great War. After serving a grueling few years in France and falling in love with a young doctor, Maisie puts up a shingle in 1929 as a private investigator. She is a perceptive observer of human nature, works well with all classes, and understands the motivations and demons prevalent in postwar England. Teens will be drawn in by her first big case, seemingly a simple one of infidelity, but leading to a complex examination of an almost cultlike situation. The impact of the war on the country is vividly conveyed. A strong protagonist and a lively sense of time and place carry readers along, and the details lead to further thought and understanding about the futility and horror of war, as well as a desire to hear more of Maisie. This is the beginning of a series, and a propitious one at that.
Susan H. Woodcock, Fairfax County Public Library, Chantilly, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Susan H. Woodcock, Fairfax County Public Library, Chantilly, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Review
'Readers sensing a story-within-a-story won't be disappointed. But first, they must prepare to be astonished at the sensitivity and wisdom with which Maisie resolves her first professional assignment' -- New York Times 'A fine new sleuth for the twenty-first century. Simultaneously self-reliant and vulnerable, Maisie isn't a character I'll easily forget' -- Elizabeth George 'The book is much more than a cosy mystery - it is also about women's growing emancipation and the profound changes to society after the First World War.' -- Mail on Sunday's You 20050403
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Even if she hadn't been the last person to walk through the turnstile at Warren Street tube station, Jack Barker would have noticed the tall, slender woman in the navy blue, thigh-length jacket with a matching pleated skirt short enough to reveal a well-turned ankle. Read the first page
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Even if she hadn't been the last person to walk through the turnstile at Warren Street tube station, Jack Barker would have noticed the tall, slender woman in the navy blue, thigh-length jacket with a matching pleated skirt short enough to reveal a well-turned ankle. Read the first page
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By KatPanama
Format:Hardcover
The eponymous character is an anomaly of the time (housemaid made good so to speak) who, with the help of the kindly bourgeoisie, transcends her humble birth to become a psychologist-detective with experience as a nurse in WWI, a tragic lost love, schooling at Cambridge/Girton (before women were able to attain degrees) and so on. There's a mystery here, too, but mostly the story is Maisie's and she's terrific.
The prose is redolent of its place and time and, even though Maisie may be a revisionist, she's most refreshingly wonderful if too pure and serious. Can't wait for the next Maisie mystery.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I'm very much engaged in this book and it's only been 2 chapters!!! I love the references to post-war London, the main character Maise is completely loveable and her cases are interesting.
Maise Dobbs is very similar to Precious Ramotse, a detective in Alexander McCall Smith's series No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. They both use intuition to figure things out.....and I normally don't like mysteries....this one is great!
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone!
Maise Dobbs is very similar to Precious Ramotse, a detective in Alexander McCall Smith's series No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. They both use intuition to figure things out.....and I normally don't like mysteries....this one is great!
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
MAISIE DOBBS is written in three parts. In the first part, Maisie is setting up shop as a private investigator. A man hires Maisie Dobbs to follow his wife, who he thinks is cheating on him. She follows this woman to a graveyard where she stands over the grave of a man named Victor, just Victor. Maisie finds out from the caretaker that this man was a war veteran whose face had been hideously defiled. There are other graves in the graveyard without a surname and Maisie is suspicious.
The second part is flashback. We see Maisie rise from a maid, to a student at Cambridge, then a WWI nurse. We see her getting up at three in the morning to read the books in her employer's library. When she is discovered, rather than fire her, her employer takes her under her wing to assure her an education.
In the third section we return to Maisie's investigation of a suspicious farm called The Refuge which had been formed as a haven for WWI veterans who had been deformed in battle.
Although sometimes over-earnest with a plot line that's a bit too convenient, Maisie Dobbs is a worthwhile read. The likeable lead, the setting, and the theme of soldiers with little to live for kept me turning the pages with relish. Jacqueline Winspear is also smart enough to keep you guessing about what happened to Maisie's doctor lover right up until the end. The book is also peppered with enjoyable minor characters that help round out the personality of our Maisie.
The second part is flashback. We see Maisie rise from a maid, to a student at Cambridge, then a WWI nurse. We see her getting up at three in the morning to read the books in her employer's library. When she is discovered, rather than fire her, her employer takes her under her wing to assure her an education.
In the third section we return to Maisie's investigation of a suspicious farm called The Refuge which had been formed as a haven for WWI veterans who had been deformed in battle.
Although sometimes over-earnest with a plot line that's a bit too convenient, Maisie Dobbs is a worthwhile read. The likeable lead, the setting, and the theme of soldiers with little to live for kept me turning the pages with relish. Jacqueline Winspear is also smart enough to keep you guessing about what happened to Maisie's doctor lover right up until the end. The book is also peppered with enjoyable minor characters that help round out the personality of our Maisie.
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4.1 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
This needed a lot more work
Set in 1929, in England, Maisie Dobbs is the first book in a series about a former housemaid/World War I nurse who sets up in the post-war years as a psychologist and private... Read more
Published on July 11 2004 by Bucky
1.0 out of 5 stars
Stick to being a maid, Maisie!
I bought this book for two reasons: one, I love this genre, and two, I love anything set during WWI. Read more
Published on July 2 2004 by L. Cattafi
2.0 out of 5 stars
Eh. Not bad, but not as good as touted, either.
This won an Alex (young people's library award) NOT an Agatha. It was also nominated for an Edgar. Read more
Published on Jun 29 2004
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bravo and Hip-Hip!
This book was nominated by the Edgar and Agatha Committees for the simple reason that it's worthy of a nomination. Read more
Published on April 7 2004 by eduardo
5.0 out of 5 stars
A terrific read!
I was delighted with this author's first effort! I hope she'll write many more books in this series. Read more
Published on Mar 27 2004 by CML
3.0 out of 5 stars
Period Piece will Appeal to Anglophiles
The story opens in 1929 London, with thirty-two year old Maisie Dobbs hanging out her shingle as a private investigator. Read more
Published on Mar 22 2004 by Elizabeth Connor
1.0 out of 5 stars
WHY IS THIS AN EDGAR & AGATHA NOMINEE????
This is NOT a mystery, but more a weak period romance piece of fluff. Maisie, by the way, doesn't solve a thing. Read more
Published on Mar 9 2004
4.0 out of 5 stars
Deserves the accolades it has received
In England, 1929, Maisie Dobbs sets herself up as a private investigator in London. Previously she has worked as a housemaid, as well as a nurse during the Great War in France. Read more
Published on Mar 5 2004 by Larry Gandle
4.0 out of 5 stars
The World War before we had to start numbering them . . .
This sensitively written first novel is being marketed as a mystery, but that's only part of it -- and the lesser part, in my opinion. Read more
Published on Jan 17 2004 by Michael K. Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars
Maisie Dobbs is a wonderful book!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this first novel by Jacqueline Winspear. I couldn't put it down and read it over the New Year's weekend. Read more
Published on Jan 4 2004 by Alexis Powers
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