Product Description

Hailed by NPR’s Fresh Air as part Testament of Youth, part Dorothy Sayers, and part Upstairs, Downstairs, this astonishing debut has already won fans from coast to coast and is poised to add Maisie Dobbs to the ranks of literature’s favorite sleuths.

Maisie Dobbs isn’t just any young housemaid. Through her own natural intelligence—and the patronage of her benevolent employers—she works her way into college at Cambridge. When World War I breaks out, Maisie goes to the front as a nurse. It is there that she learns that coincidences are meaningful and the truth elusive. After the War, Maisie sets up on her own as a private investigator. But her very first assignment, seemingly an ordinary infidelity case, soon reveals a much deeper, darker web of secrets, which will force Maisie to revisit the horrors of the Great War and the love she left behind.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6384 in Books
• Published on: 2004-05-25
• Released on: 2004-05-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780142004333
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

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.

Review
'Maisie Dobbs is a welcome and unusual addition to the crowded world of literary detectives. ! A very readable whodunnit' -- Sainsbury's Magazine Sue Baker's 'Quarterly Highlights' -- Publisher's Weekly 20040806 'Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs is a welcome addition to the sleuthing scene. Simultaneously self-reliant and vulnerable, Maisie isn't a character I'll easily forget' -- Elisabeth George 20040806 '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 20040806 'Much more than just another detective story! thought-provoking' -- Newbooksmag 20041101 'It's a long time since I've read a crime novel that begins as well as Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs ... very well written ... [Jacqueline Winspear has] a very bright future as a crime novelist' -- Daily Mail 20040806 'Feisty, working-class heroine Maisie is a deliberate throwback to the sleuthettes of old-fashioned crime writing and will appeal to all those fans who pine for uncomplicated characters and a strong demarcation between good and bad. The well-plotted story, its characters and the picture of London between the wars are decidedly romantic. American readers loved it; many Brits will, too.' -- The Guardian 20040918 'A notable new heroine whose adventures are set to continue.' -- Saga 20040918 'A wry and immensely readable beginning to what promises to be a vivid new addition to crime fiction' -- Mail on Sunday 'Simultaneously self-reliant and vulnerable, Maisie isn't a character I'll easily forget' -- Elizabeth George 'Very well written ... [Jacqueline Winspear has] a very bright future as a crime novelist' -- Daily Mail 20040806 'Even if detective stories aren't your thing, you'll love Maisie Dobbs' -- New Woman 20040801 'American readers loved it; many Brits will, too.' -- Guardian 20040918 'Readers sensing a story-within-a-story won't be disappointed.' -- New York Times 20040918 '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 'In Maisie Dobbs, Jacqueline Winspear has given us a real gift. Maisie Dobbs has not been created - she has been discovered. Such people are always there amongst us, waiting for somebody like Ms. Winspear to come along and reveal them. And what a revelation it is!' Alexander McCall Smith -- Alexander McCall Smith 20060515

Review
[A] deft debut novel... Romantic readers sensing a story-within-a-story won’t be disappointed. But first they must be prepared to be astonished at the sensitivity and wisdom with which Maisie resolves her first professional assignment. (The New York Times) The reader familiar with Alexander McCall Smith’s The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency... might think of Maisie Dobbs as its British counterpart. ...Winspear, who intends to write a series featuring Maisie Dobbs, has created a winning character about whom readers will want to read more. (The Associated Press) REVIEW [Maisie Dobbs] catches the sorrow of a lost generation in the character of one exceptional woman. (The Chicago Tribune)

Customer Reviews

an engrossing read
While "Maisie Dobbs" has been categorized as a novel/mystery, the book actually reads more like a novel (even though there is a mystery at hand, and our heroine is a detective) than it does a 'straight' mystery novel. But this did not stop me from enjoying the book at all.

Once Maisie Dobbs was a domestic servant with little expectation of anything else aside from rising within the ranks. However, thanks to the sponsorship of her employer, Lady Rowan Compton, who quickly realised that there was something really special about the thirteen year old, Maisie was given an education. Now, Maisie is a young woman and eager to make her mark; and thanks to the tutorship of Lady Rowan's good friend, Maurice Blanche (a renowned detective himself), Maisie is ready to embark on her first case. Unfortunately, it looks as if her first case is going to be a case of marital infidelity: Mr. Davenham suspects that his much younger wife, Celia, is having an affair; and he wants Maisie to either confirm his worst fears or else refute them. Little does Mr. Davenham realise, however, that Maisie is no ordinary detective. A highly intuitive and empathic young woman, Maisie senses Mr. Davenham's anguish over his wife's alleged infidelity and is resolved to help the Davenhams repair their strained marital bond. Her investigation however leads her to a graveyard, and to a grave marked only with a simple tombstone and a name -- Vincent. A casual search turns up other graves -- all memorialized with tombstones and first names only. Something about the whole thing awakens Maisie's misgivings, and trusting her instincts she decides to widen her investigation, never dreaming just how much this investigation will affect her...

"Maisie Dobbs" is divided into three sections: the first section deals with Maisie's initial investigation of Celia and what she's up to, and this section does read very much like a mystery novel; the second section deals with how Maisie came to be noticed by Lady Rowan, her education, and her war experiences -- this third of the book however reads more like a novel; the last section of the book again deals with the mystery of the mysterious tombstones, and the resolution of this mystery. While "Maisie Dobbs" proved to be a good and easy read, complete with an intriguing storyline and an intelligent and likable heroine, I must admit that the book was not that much of a suspenseful read. Because the novel does rely a little heavily on Maisie's intuitive powers, there are practically no unexpected plot twists or red herring suspects. (And truly, "Maisie Dobbs" was more about how, even almost an entire decade after the war, people were still coming to terms with the horror and grief that war entails). So that while I'm not exactly sure just how successful this plot device of having an empathic detecting heroine will be, I will admit that "Maisie Dobbs" proved to be a very enjoyable read.

The Start of a Beautiful Friendship!
Never much of a mystery reader, in the last number of years I have been introduced to two wonderful female detectives of sorts. One was Fremont Jones, a private detective based in San Francisco at the turn of the century and the heroine of a series written by Dianne Day. The other was Mma Ramotswe from the Alexander McCall Smith mystery series set in Botswana, Africa. While I enjoyed the mystery angles of both series, it was the women and their personalities, the geographical areas where they lived and the historical times which intrigued me so greatly. And as much as I loved these books, I remember thinking that I most likely would never find another female character from this genre who would appeal to me in quite the same way. But then I didn't know that very shortly I would meet up with the most intriguing character of all, one Maisie Dobbs from the book with the same title by Jacqueline Winspear. And as I said in the title of this review, I just know this is the beginning of a wonderful friendship.

We first meet Maisie Dobbs in 1929 when she is moving into her first office in London. A private detective, Maisie has been tutored and apprenticed by a Dr. Maurice Blanche who is highly regarded in London's social circles.

Her first case seems rather ordinary when a man suspects his wife of cheating on him. Following the woman in question, Maisie finds a lady mourning a childhood friend killed during W.W.I. But more than that Maisie also uncovers a rather sinister plot involving a farmhouse used as a retreat for men unable to rejoin society. Called the Retreat it holds the answer to why certain war heroes met untimely deaths while living at the Retreat.

While this book is considered a misery it almost takes a back seat to the main character for as we turn the pages we learn more and more about Maisie and her circumstances. In a series of flashbacks we first meet Maisie at 13 when her mother has died and her father, a costermonger, has no money left for Maisie's education due to the medical expenses for his wife. Maisie's father then finds a job for her as a scullery maid in the home of Lady Compton, a wealthy woman and suffragette. While working in this large London home, Maisie soon finds a wonderful library which appeals to her sense of learning. When she is found there one night by her employer while poring over a book, Lady Compton arranges for Maisie to be tutored over a period of years, then paying for her to attend Girton, the women's school from Cambridge. But then war intervenes and the book takes a different turn as Maisie faces World War I working as a field nurse and learns about both the joys and sorrows of a first love.

I so enjoyed this book that I literally gulped it down. I found that Ms. Winspear offered her readers a wonderful glimpse into the world of London before, during and after W.W.I. From the drawing rooms of the wealthy homes to the life of a young nurse, I felt as though I was in London during these times, not reading in the year 2005. But more than anything I love learning about Maisie's life which was also laid out as a misery till the final pages revealed an important piece of the puzzle.

I must say that I might never have read this book had it not been for the recommendation of a dear online friend. So not only do I thank Ms, Winspear for writing this book, I also thank my friend for reading this and passing along the recommendation. And now that I've finished Maisie Dobbs I can't wait to read the second book in this series, Birds of a Feather. I only hope that the next book will be as good as the first one. Something tells me it will be. And then I will anxiously wait for the next book by this talented and gifted author.

More Than A Mystery
This book is really a mixture of a novel and mystery. Masie Dobbs is a bright girl born to a low station in pre-World War One London who is given the opportunity of to educate herself and eventually becomes a private investigator. The story of Masie's life takes up as much of the book as the case she is working on. Masie's love of books and learning and her determination to fulfill her dreams are captivating. Equally touching is the profound change that occurs in her priorites once the war breaks out. The book is permeated with the Great War and its aftermath, and the author writes very movingly about the staggering loss that seems to have left no family untouched. It's not a traditional suspense yarn, but a truly rewarding read.