Review: Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear

Title: Maisie Dobbs
Author: Jacqueline Winspear
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Penguin
Publish Date: March 2004
Source: Library

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "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."

My Two Cents:

"Maisie Dobbs" is the first book in the very popular Maisie Dobbs series from Jacqueline Winspear. I have been looking forward to starting this series. After reading this book, I still find myself wondering what took so long! When the book opens, World War I is sweeping through Europe and Maisie is swept up into the war as a nurse on the front. When the war ends, Maisie decides to become a private investigator, almost unheard of for a woman.

We meet a bunch of characters in this book but I really liked our heroine, Maisie. Much of the book is tying the first case that she has back to her experiences during the war. I thought it was so interesting to get glimpses of the things that she went through during the war. We get to see how she was shaped and continues to be shaped by the war.

I really liked the writing of the book. The author did a great job of pulling me into the story through lots of little details and fascinating characters. The author did a great job of keeping the mystery close at hand until the very end. I look forward to reading more in this series!