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Dec 17, 2009

Elizabeth rated it:

Really enjoyable - this is the first installment in the Maisie Dobbs mystery series, whose heroine is a smart young woman who owns a private detective business in early 1930s London. The shadow of the Great War hangs over the book, and Winspear does a great job of evoking the impact that the war had on British culture and society. Maisie is a terrific heroine, and the second book in the series (Birds of a Feather) starts to explore her character in greater depth.

1 comment like (7 people liked it)

Aug 08, 2010

Hannah rated it:

I picked up Maisie Dobbs from the library upon the rec. of my GR friend Carol, and have to say that this initial entry marks what may prove to be one of the cleverest mystery series since Dorothy Gilman brought the retired and intrepid Mrs. Pollifax to life back in the 1960s. (For more on Mrs. Pollifax, see The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax)

Don't go into reading Maisie Dobbs with any preconceived ideas about what you'll find there. Yes, it's a mystery -- somewhat. Yes, it's a historical More...

6 comments like (6 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

David rated it:

I've enjoyed all four books to date in the Maisie Dobbs series. Winspear is meticulous about doing her homework about the period in question (World War I and its aftermath), and the heroine, Maisie is muy simpática.

That said, not all four books are of equal quality. For my taste, this one (#1) is the best of the bunch, with #4 (Messenger of Truth) close on its heels. The plot to #2 was a bit too predictable, while #3 suffers from the opposite flaw - too many convoluted subplots, with More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jun 24, 2008

Jennifer rated it:

I really enjoyed this first book in Winspear's mystery series. Maisie Dobbs is a very intriguing and sympathetic heroine full of admirable traits.

At age 13, after her mother's death, her father sends her to be a servant in the home of a kindly aristocratic family. The family sees much promise in the smart Maisie and offers to fund her education. WWI breaks out and Maisie feels called to volunteer. She goes to France as a nurse and her experiences impact her in a way that changes More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Mar 12, 2008

Leanna rated it:

A neighbor recommended Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs as one of the best books she’s read. The book cover boasts quotes from The New York Times (“Be prepared to be astonished”), NPR (“A quirky literary creation”), and Alexander McCall Smith (“[A:] real gift”). Naturally, I had high expectations.

Maisie Dobbs is a detective and self-proclaimed psychologist in post-WWI London, and the novel splits its time between a case and detailing Maisie’s background. Only half the book is a myste More...

1 comment like (9 people liked it)

Jul 27, 2011

Hayes rated it:

I liked this, very much; I just didn't love it. I wanted to be more connected to Maisie, but felt that she slipped away before I could learn to love her. I liked the story and the back story and the way they intertwined, although I found the switching back and forth in time was handled a little awkwardly.

I will continue the series.

3 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 02, 2011

LJ rated it:

MAISIE DOBBS (Historical Novel/Mystery) – Okay
Jacqueline Winspear – 1st book
Penguin Books, 2003 – Trade Paperback
Set in England between 1910 and 1929 is the story of Maisie who goes from being the daughter of a fruit-and-vegetable man, to the in-between maid of wealthy aristocrats where she receives special tutoring, on to college and then serving as a Nurse in France during WWI and, finally, setting up an investigative service where she is asked to find out about “The Retreat, More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 26, 2008

Karen rated it:

Gee, I have to respectfully disagree with Bethany on this one! I really enjoyed this book. The story was interesting and kept me reading to find out what would happen next. I found the WWI detail fascinating, especially since I had never read anything about that era from the point of view of a nurse before. I did think the long middle "flashback" section about Maisie's war experiences went on a bit too long (I had almost forgotten what the mystery was by the time we got back to the pre More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 20, 2011

Theresa rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 04, 2008

Nicole rated it:

The only thing I didn't care for with this book is that Winspear started with the mystery, then gave Maisie's back story for the second third of the book, then went back to the mystery. I loved the setting (England and France during and just after World War I) and the odd little insightful observations on the psychology of the mind. The character of Maisie Dobbs completely won me over. An intelligent woman from the lower class making her mark on the world. Winspear didn't allow Maisie to be More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 12, 2010

AnnaMay rated it:

This was so refreshing to read!

The characters were very endearing. Masie, Mrs. Crawford, Mr. Carter, Billy, and of course her WWI friends.

I like the WWI time setting. What an unfair thing war is. So many lives are ruined by it. I appreciated how she didn't glorify it, yet maintained the glorious tribute deserving to those who served and sacrificed.

I appreciated the ending very much. I found this book to be just true-to-life to not be 'hoakey' like the ot More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Jan 16, 2009

Pam rated it:

A friend turned me on to the Maisie Dobbs series. I recommend that you read them in sequence. I enjoyed the historical references about World War I, which is a war that many of us today could not understand the horrific conditions that soldiers and nurses, in particular, endured in the trenches. Talk about post traumatic stress!

The mysteries are interesting as they involve the human pysche. A must read.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 24, 2011

Kimber rated it:

This was recommended by a friend and I have to say that I am loving it. I cry in all the wrong places - it's the happy parts of the book that make me cry. It makes me realize that I live an easy life.

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Sep 29, 2011

Trish rated it:

I got about 2/3 of the way through this audiobook and just couldn't take it anymore. Maisie is the flattest character I have read in a long time, and in fact I can't even think of a flatter character. She is a one-dimensional, and oh too good to be true, character doing all the "right" things, I just couldn't listen to it anymore. Some of the book's critics have compared her to Nancy Drew; well I read all of the Nancy Drew books and Maisie Dobbs is no Nancy Drew, she could only hope More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 30, 2009

E rated it:

This first book in the series isn't so much a mystery novel per se --unless you want to count the unfolding of Maisie's past as a mystery -- as it is a foundation for the future. Although set in 1929 when Maisie first establishes herself as an investigator, a large portion of the book takes place during WWI and before - or harks back to it in investigation of her current case. Reminiscent in tone and setting of the Charles Todd Ian Rutledge series, especially in its presentation of a world perma More...

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Dec 07, 2008

Jenger rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Feb 07, 2012

Linda rated it:

At the age of 13, Maisie Dobbs procures a job as a housemaid in a nobleman's house. Maisie lived in near poverty with her father from the time her mother died when she was a young child. Although Maisie never went to school, she was a avid reader. One day her new employer finds her reading in his library and eventually discover that not only is Maisie a bright young woman, but she is exceptionally gifted. Her new employers decide to take Maisie under their wing and educate her. In her second yea More...

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Jan 22, 2012

Jaclyn rated it:

1929. Maisie Dobbs is hanging her shingle, ready to take on the world with her new private investigations business. Her first case seems disappointingly straightforward - follow a suspected wayward wife and find out if she's unfaithful. But as Maisie delves into the secret of how Celia Devenham spends her days, she finds that the case is about much more than possibly infidelity. Celia describes a place called The Retreat - a place where facially wounded World War I soldiers can escape the st More...

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Dec 30, 2011

Heather rated it:

World War One was such a huge undertaking, that even women were actively encouraged to sign-up and help in any way possible. Due to an unforeseen event one day, our main character Maisie Dobbs felt compelled to defer her education to enroll as a nurse. We first meet Maisie in 1929, approximately ten years after her nursing work.

She is now working in a second field that is most unusual for a women at that time: she is running an investigation firm. Author JacquelineWinspear has cre More...

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Oct 31, 2011

Elsiekate rated it:

so a friend and i had lunch one day and told each other about mystery writers that the other might like to try, and offered to loan books to each other. a couple weeks ago, she brought me the first book in her recommended series, maisie dobbs. an easy target for addiction, i've now read three of them.

they take place for the most part, in 1930. (i say "for the most part" because there are occasional flashback sequences). our detective, maisie dobbs (whose name gives me an More...

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Aug 30, 2011

Evanston Public added it

I am mystified as to why it took so long for me to discover this delightful series. I kept seeing it come and go from the library, but it still didn't catch on till just recently that for someone who relishes mysteries set in England during the period between the wars and featuring a spunky, but sober-minded young woman, Winspear's books are just the ticket.

In this first book we meet Maisie in 1929 as she opens her new agency ("M. Dobbs. Trade and Personal Investigations" More...

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Jul 27, 2011

Kwoomac rated it:

Maisie Dobbs is a young woman in post-WWI England who has opened a detective agency. The story begins with her meeting with a new client, who wants to know if his wife is having an affair. This is where Maisie is a little different from your average detective. Before taking on the case, she requires the husband to make a commitment to his wife and marriage, regardless of Maisie's findings. Maisie has an ethical commitment to those she investigates. This is an interesting twist in the usual detec More...

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Jun 22, 2011

Margaret rated it:

This is the first of a series of historical novels taking place in England during the early twentieth century. Maisie Dobbs is a working class girl (her father sold fruits and vegetables from a cart) who, at the age of thirteen after her mother's death, becomes a servant in a wealthy household. She is very bright and comes to the attention of the kindly wealthy folks who own the house. They encourage her studies, hire a tutor for her, and support her as she enters Cambridge University. Beca More...

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Jun 19, 2011

Bonnie rated it:

A very good read. It was a three star for the first half but by the end it's a four star.
I loved some of the older sayings that I used to hear in my youth but hadn't heard in a long time. A date is: "walking out with" and a little child is a "mite."
I found it interesting that Maisie was a student at the University but would not receive any degrees because she is a woman.
I learned a few things about WWI which I always enjoy and this book is also research for my More...

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May 15, 2011

Jenn rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Apr 12, 2011

Jamie rated it:

This was a pretty random selection from The Community Library in Ketchum, ID. It's an unconventional library with an unconventional selection and I totally thought this was written by some random nobody that I would never hear from again. I didn't even remember the title or the author's name, just Maisie, one of the coolest detectives ever, and a weird cult of WWI veterans all engaging in suspicious activities in Agatha Christie's universe. At that point, it had been a long time since I'd rea More...

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Mar 15, 2011

Losososdiane rated it:

I really enjoyed this novel. The author gave me a peek into the world of a young woman hungry for an education but seemingly locked into her fate as the daughter of a London vegetable seller whose mother has died. Maisie Dobbs lives at the intersection of luck and personal ambition for a better life. Her stint as a volunteer nurse near the front lines during WWI was vivid. I was left so curious as to what would be next for Miss Dobbs that I immediately found and started reading the second no More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 15, 2011

Pam rated it:

http://iwriteinbooks.wordpress.com/2011/...

When we first meet her, Maisie Dobbs is a young woman at the start of her career. Opening up shop as a P.I. , her story opens, slowly, almost pedestrian, in the calm between the wars. The phone barely rings. Her filing cabinets are as good as empty.

As she accepts her first client, however, who himself comes with a simple case of suspected adultery, Maisie’s past comes tumbling out, full throttle, into her present and future More...

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Jan 05, 2011

Karen rated it:

This is the first in an enjoyable mystery series set in England featuring Maisie Dobbs a WWI nurse. After the war, Maisie sets herself up as a private investigator in business for herself, which is unusual for a woman to be in business in 1929 but Maisie didn’t shrink from following her dreams like going to university even though that was not the norm for women.

Maisie’s character is artfully developed as you follow a young costermonger’s daughter, who makes her way to Cambridge Unive More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 02, 2010

Marleen rated it:

Quotes:

" Truth walks towards us on the paths of our questions. As soon as you think you have the answer, you have closed the path and may miss vital new information. Wait awhile in the stillness, and do not rush to conclusions, no matter how uncomfortable the unknowing."

"Coincidence was a messenger sent by truth."

"Pay attention to the reactions of your body. It is the wisdom of the self speaking to you. Be aware of concern, of anticipa More...

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