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A Lesson in Secrets (Maisie Dobbs #8)

by Jacqueline Winspear (Goodreads Author)

3.96 of 5 stars 3.96 · rating details · 4,323 ratings · 674 reviews

In the summer of 1932, Maisie Dobbs’ career goes in an exciting new direction when she accepts an undercover assignment directed by Scotland Yard’s Special Branch and the Secret Service. Posing as a junior lecturer, she is sent to a private college in Cambridge to monitor any activities “not in the interests of His Majesty’s Government.”

When the college’s controversial pa...more

Hardcover, 321 pages

Published March 22nd 2011 by Harper (first published 2011)

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Oct 13, 2011 Hannah rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-reads, mysteries

Rating Clarification: 2.5 Stars

Disappointing installment in the Maisie Dobbs series. Certainly, this one had the potential to be a real turning point in the series, as Maisie (and Great Britain in general) move further away from the Great War and now feel the first ominous rumblings of Hitler's rise to power.

I had begun to enjoy these books again after the last two in the series (Among the Mad and The Mapping of Love and Death), both of which were extremely entertaining reads and developed Maisi...more Rating Clarification: 2.5 Stars

Disappointing installment in the Maisie Dobbs series. Certainly, this one had the potential to be a real turning point in the series, as Maisie (and Great Britain in general) move further away from the Great War and now feel the first ominous rumblings of Hitler's rise to power.

I had begun to enjoy these books again after the last two in the series (Among the Mad and The Mapping of Love and Death), both of which were extremely entertaining reads and developed Maisie and Billy's characters very nicely. Somehow, this offering left me feeling like the series has taken 2 steps back regarding character arc. I didn't really get a good sense that Maisie or Billy had advanced since the monumental changes in the last book. Something was *off*. IMO, Winspear just phoned this in, and it didn't have the same feel as I've encountered in her previous books. Some of my concerns are addressed in the following spoiler, so read at your own risk: (view spoiler).

Regarding the plotline of this book, it also didn't engage me like the others have. I guess I'm just not the type that enjoys reading about the academic environment. It was dull and uninteresting to me. The murder and its solving also left me uninterested, and I had a hard time buying into why it was committed and the motivations of the suspects. Really, the book could be summed up as "meh".

All in all, this one wasn't a good follow up to her last two books, but I have every intention of continuing on with this series. It seems to be one of those, for me, that has it's ups and downs.

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Mar 17, 2011 Cheryl rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: literary-fiction, first-reads

Set between the World Wars in Britain, this is the 8th Maisie Dobbs novel penned by Jacqueline Winspear. This was my first thanks to an ARC from Goodreads, and I was concerned that the story would not stand alone. I was wrong, as the characters were fully developed, their relationships melded, and the timeframe one of my favorite in history. Intrigue, murder, and foreshadowing of the upcoming rise of Hitler and his utopianism make for a gripping tale especially knowing the consequences. The auth...more

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Jul 24, 2012 Peggy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: detective-mysteries

Though Maisie's success in love and work and her new personal wealth are well-deserved, I fear that she may become less interesting as a main character. Her appeal as a heroine was in her struggle to overcome poverty and war to become an independent working woman between the wars in 20th century London. Our talented heroine's hard work has reaped huge rewards. Still, her elevated station in life means there's a loss of tension in the plots and subplots. There is also increased alignment between...more

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Apr 03, 2011 Lbaker rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 1920s-and-1930s, mystery-female, first-reads-won-by-friends

My friend won this book from Goodreads, then passed it on to me. I have never read Jacqueline Winspear and her Maisie Dobbs series, but am always willing to read a mystery.

Although A Lesson in Secrets is book 8 in the Maisie Dobbs series, it was an enjoyable read when read alone. The book is set in England after the first World War and before the second, this was a very interesting time regarding secrets, spies, the enormous loss of life suffered during WW1 and the flu afterwards, the average p...more

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Sep 03, 2012 Jane rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is another interesting novel in the Maisie Dobbs series; interesting as much for its insight into the post WWI atmosphere in England as it is for the mystery. Maisie is working undercover as a philosophy lecturer at a small college dedicated to peace between nations. Her assignment: to monitor any activities "not in the interests of His Majesty's government".

The college's pacifist founder, Grenville Liddicote is known as the author of children's books with a strong anti-war message. One of...more

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Aug 14, 2012 Joseph rated it 3 of 5 stars

A Lesson in Secrets is the eighth book in a series but the first for me; so reading it already felt like uncovering a bit of a secret. The protagonist, Maisie Dobbs a highly insightful, but cagey detective who rarely let's her friends or her audience know exactly what's on her mind. She's a likable character who with a rich past; though it often felt like much of that past was re-told from the earlier seven novels.

But the secrets go deeper than the main character. This is a mystery story with m...more

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Jun 22, 2012 Nathalie S rated it 4 of 5 stars

Maisie Dobbs is a private investigator who lives in England in between WWI and WWII. Maisie comes from a very humble background and went in to service at 12. But she was very lucky as her employer noticed how smart she really was and made sure she was well educated. During the 1st war, she was a nurse in the military. Through her work as a PI, she is acquainted with Scotland Yard. In this book, she is recruited by the Secret Service to go under cover at the College of St.Francis which is founded...more Maisie Dobbs is a private investigator who lives in England in between WWI and WWII. Maisie comes from a very humble background and went in to service at 12. But she was very lucky as her employer noticed how smart she really was and made sure she was well educated. During the 1st war, she was a nurse in the military. Through her work as a PI, she is acquainted with Scotland Yard. In this book, she is recruited by the Secret Service to go under cover at the College of St.Francis which is founded on principles of fostering peace among the nations by bringing together students from all countries to study together, including Germans (which would have still been a rather sensitive subject). Maisie is using her degree in philosophy to teach while she investigates talk of conscientious objectors and subversive movement against the war effort. While she is there, the founder of the college is found murdered. This was a good lesson in history for me. I had no idea that conscientious objectors were jailed and treated horribly and their families left to fend for themselves. Also I did not know that in between the two wars, there were many Germans who moved to England and that they had a branch of the German National Socialist Party (the Nazis!) and that the idea was quite agreeable to many people especially in the universities, among some of the youth and the wealthy. One of the characters is quoted as saying that the young always look for something new, some new passion and that they are ripe for infiltration. "Young people are our future and our vulnerability". As Maisie uncovers the growing nazi movement at the College, I was amazed that neither Scotland Yard nor the Secret Service were too concerned about the rise of Nazism, even when one of the men on the college debate team stood up to make his pro-nazi speech ending with a "Heil Hitler". Their unconcern sent chills down your spine as you know what ultimately happened during WWII. Maisie can see farther ahead and guess at all the horrors that are coming because of this. I had to warm up to this book a little but it was well worth it!(less)

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Apr 25, 2012 Neile rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have really enjoyed the Maisie Dobbs series--they're exactly what I like in mystery series, where the characters' lives are at least as tangled and interesting as that crimes they investigate. I'm not a reader who focuses on plot, so, really, the mystery is the least interesting part of mystery novels to me. That said, the last few in the series have somewhat blurred for me, so I especially enjoyed this one, where Maisie was thrust into a new setting: academia, and under a new set of bosses wi...more

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Mar 01, 2012 Rebecca rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical, mystery, drama

1930s private inquiry agent Maisie Dobbs is still adjusting to her newly-inherited fortune when British Intelligence taps her for a job at a college of peace in Cambridge. They want her to report on any activities that might threaten the kingdom. What she finds, after teaching philosophy for a week, is the murdered body of the college founder. She’s not supposed to get involved in solving the murder, but she’s Maisie Dobbs, so of course she does. In the meantime, she’s also buying a house for he...more

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Aug 28, 2011 Glenajo rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-mystery

Set in the years following WWI in England, the Masie Dobbs series employs a pervading sense of gloom felt as the people deal with the deaths of so many, disabled veterans, high unemployment, and the truly poor lower class. This series allows a ‘richer’ society to glimpse the difficulty of the time, and the amazing changes as one of the poor, Masie, begins to climb the ladder to a better life, albeit with the help of those above her and her brilliant mind. While some may argue that this was unusu...more

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Aug 22, 2011 Mary rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-books

This was not my favorite Maisie Dobbs book. It seems a little longer than necessary and has a looser focus than some of the earlier installments. Maisie's job is not to find out who murdered Greville Liddicote, head of a private college in Cambridge for international pacifists. Instead she is supposed to take a teaching job there in order to report on any political activity that may be of interest or bear further watching. However, apparently the presence on the faculty of Nazi party members is...more

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Jul 26, 2011 Laura Droege rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, historical, mysteries

Maisie Dobbs, private investigator and careful observer of people, returns in the 8th novel of this series. It's 1932, and the growing tensions in Europe have cast shadows over England. Dobbs is asked to take a teaching position at the College of St. Francis, devoted to the study of peace, and observe the comings and goings of its students and professors. Is there anything that is not in the best interests of the Crown?

No sooner has Maisie arrived than the founder of the college is murdered. Tho...more

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Jun 23, 2011 Linda rated it 3 of 5 stars

For better or worse I can usually read the latest Maisie Dobbs mystery in not much more than an evening. This is the eighth title in the series about Maisie, a young woman "in service" in a great house who became a nurse in WWI and later a private investigator. The stories all have a tie to the war. But now we are up to 1932, more than a dozen years after the end of the Great War. Already Mosley and the fascists are on the scene but the British gov't. and the intelligence service seem more conce...more

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Jun 10, 2011 Neal Sanders rated it 5 of 5 stars

Keeping a mystery series readable after eight books is a challenge for any writer. When I read ‘Maisie Dobbs’ in 2003, I was captivated by the character, the setting and the plot. But, what does a writer do once the main character’s back story is fully fleshed out?
There are multiple paths, most of them not pretty. Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody series has taken on such a huge cast of secondary characters that the plot lines are little more than a distraction from the comings and goings of Ame...more Keeping a mystery series readable after eight books is a challenge for any writer. When I read ‘Maisie Dobbs’ in 2003, I was captivated by the character, the setting and the plot. But, what does a writer do once the main character’s back story is fully fleshed out?
There are multiple paths, most of them not pretty. Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody series has taken on such a huge cast of secondary characters that the plot lines are little more than a distraction from the comings and goings of Amelia’s extended family. Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Milhone began to suffer from description bloat as the stories ballooned from the economical ‘A is for Alibi’ to more than 400 pages for ‘U is for Undertow’.
Jacqueline Winspear, on the other hand, simply delivers a solid, intelligent plot. The characters evolve, as they should, but the stories add no excess baggage in the process. At the end of the previous book in the series, ‘The Mapping of Love and Death’, Maisie found her circumstances changed: the death of her mentor made Maisie a woman of substantial means. In ‘A Lesson in Secrets’, Maisie begins to cope, however slowly, with that wealth.
More importantly, though, Winspear casts her protagonist in a new direction. Maisie is onto bigger game: it is 1932 and Germany is in turmoil as Adolph Hitler rises toward control of that country’s government. Many in England, and especially those of the upper classes, are drawn to Hitler’s national socialism. There is also a growing pacifist movement in the country. Are they linked and are they threats to England’s stability? Maisie Dobbs is asked by His Majesty’s intelligence service to seek a post at a small college in Cambridge known for its pacifist teachings, and to report what she observes.
By the end of the book, Maisie will have observed a great deal and solved a murder. More importantly, Winspear has pointed her character higher, while keeping the essence of the ‘psychological detective’ that was born eight years ago. Maisie has new friends – if they are friends – who will almost certainly figure into future episodes.
Most remarkably, this is not a series that requires a chronological reading. If you have never read the seven earlier books, you can still pick up ‘A Lesson in Secrets’ without feeling that there is a hidden code to which you are not privy.
Ms. Winspear and A Lesson in Secrets’ both get five stars. It’s a terrific book in an equally terrific series.
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Jun 07, 2011 Chavonne rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Maisie Dobbs fans

Recommended to Chavonne by: Steph

Shelves: series-that-sucked-me-in, mysteries, anglophilia, fiction

When I heard that a new Maisie Dobbs novel had been released, I was thrilled. A reader whose taste I greatly trust introduced me to the series a few years ago and I've been hooked since the first novel.

This novel is very different from the prior works. Maisie experienced a huge change and her personality is quite different now. I think the author tried to warn by saying that her windfall had made her more confident, but perhaps it's too much of a change. This novel is much darker than any of the...more

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Jun 05, 2011 Carolyn Hill rated it 3 of 5 stars

I would give this 3 1/2 stars if possible. I have kept up with this series, reading every new addition as it comes out, because I like the heroine and the setting and time period - England between the world wars. As in all of the previous books in the series, the ramifications of WWI still play out in the lives of the characters, but in this there is more foreshadowing of the coming storm of WWII. Hired by the Special Branch of Scotland Yard to infiltrate a pacifist college with an international...more I would give this 3 1/2 stars if possible. I have kept up with this series, reading every new addition as it comes out, because I like the heroine and the setting and time period - England between the world wars. As in all of the previous books in the series, the ramifications of WWI still play out in the lives of the characters, but in this there is more foreshadowing of the coming storm of WWII. Hired by the Special Branch of Scotland Yard to infiltrate a pacifist college with an international student body, Maisie takes the position of junior lecturer in philosophy, leaving the day-to-day affairs of her private investigative business in the hands of her assistant. She is supposed to be on the lookout for subversive activity but finds herself in place when the founder and principal of the college is murdered. Naturally, the murder investigation becomes central to Maisie and to the plot of the book, though she is not supposed to be part of it. Her mission is to keep Special Branch apprised of any observed activities and/or anyone "that are not in the interests of the Crown." It turns out her employers were particularly concerned about Communism, but were not as disturbed by fascism and the growing Nazi movement that Maisie thinks could prove more threatening. I felt a little uncomfortable with the premise of the plot. While Maisie is qualified to teach, she takes the job under false pretexts and continually has to lie about her motives and purpose, which she even seems to be uncomfortable with, though in her profession as an inquiry agent (i.e. detective) she certainly has had to dissimulate on occasion but is more often forthright about her intentions. Also, Maisie's motives for accepting the assignment are unclear. Was it love and duty to country or honoring the memory of her recently deceased mentor Dr. Maurice Blanche, who had also once served the Secret Service and supposedly would have wanted her to? I didn't really think it was in Maisie's character to spy on academics and young people, whom she acknowledges are enthusiastically exploring the world, are impressionable and just forming their opinions. And having witnessed first hand the soul killing futility of an horrific war which made her compassionate, if not empathetic, toward pacifists, now she is supposed to report any Bolshevik or other questionable activity in a small college that is suspect simply because of its pacifist leanings? I would have hoped Maisie would find such duplicity not only distasteful, but unconscionable, but alas, no. To me, it smacks of Big-Brother-ism or McCarthyism, but maybe I'm taking things out of their historical context. Perhaps it is all a set-up for a role as a spy in future books, because there were plenty of hints in that direction. Maisie always keeps things close to her vest, and the reader is not privy to Maisie's inner thoughts. This can make her seem dispassionate at times, though the author does try to convey Maisie's empathy towards people. However, her personal life remains almost as inscrutable as her opinions, and I'm getting a bit impatient with her reticence in affairs of the heart. She now has a lover but is unwilling to commit to marriage and she distrusts happiness. Apparently she is afraid how it would impact her work which is her identity and what gives her life meaning, although her suitor James does not seem to press her on this. Maisie has refused marriage in the past, but her alliance with James seems to be a more serious attachment. While the previous book had hinted at the dawning of happiness in Maisie's heart, her relationship with James was not developed in this book at all, disappointingly, and he is mostly not even present. How the author will treat this in coming volumes is an intriguing subject for speculation. Will Maisie marry and work together with her husband against a growing Nazi threat, or will Maisie continue on her own, detached from personal obligations other than her aging father and her interest in the welfare of her employee Billy and his family? Another thing that detracted from the book I felt was an extraneous subplot regarding Sandra, a former servant in the household where Maisie had also worked. Usually the author will tie in various subplots to the central theme in a cohesive way, but this one seemed to serve no other function than to give her assistant Billy something to do while she went to work as a professor. I kept expecting there to be a connection, but was disappointed when there was none. In all, the book was slower paced than some previous volumes, and certainly not as thrilling, for Maisie was never in any danger. The murder mystery was not all that intriguing. However, the book held my attention and I enjoyed reading it. Still, it seemed to be a bridge between the past and its emphasis on WWI and the guidance of her mentor, and the future on her own facing the war that is to come.(less)

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May 25, 2011 Kat rated it 3 of 5 stars

In today's NYT there was an Op-Ed piece titled something like "Why England Works". We threw out the paper so I cannot check who wrote it and what the exact title was. But the point of the column was that the British democracy/system of government actually works much better than the American one. They are in some ways much more adversarial with the "in-your-face" Question Time in Parliament, but at the same time much less ideologically divided than the US. Partly, because their elites all went to...more

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May 16, 2011 Cornerofmadness rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear
This is the eighth book in the Maisie Dobbs series and it’s another solid entry into the series. Set post WWI, in England in the early 1930’s, Maisie was once a young maid in a wealthy household and was sent by the lady of the house to be schooled. She had an excellent mentor in the psychologist Dr. Maurice Blanche and she went on to be a nurse in the Great War. Upon returning home, she turned her skills and Maurice’s lessons to private detective work....more A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear
This is the eighth book in the Maisie Dobbs series and it’s another solid entry into the series. Set post WWI, in England in the early 1930’s, Maisie was once a young maid in a wealthy household and was sent by the lady of the house to be schooled. She had an excellent mentor in the psychologist Dr. Maurice Blanche and she went on to be a nurse in the Great War. Upon returning home, she turned her skills and Maurice’s lessons to private detective work. She has recently inherited a nice home and a large bankroll and was seen ‘walking out’ with James Compton, the heir to the wealthy household she started out in service to.

While Maisie is still getting used to her money, she is tapped by Huntley in Secret Service to use her connection to Maurice to get a job at the College of St. Francis, a college started only recently by Grenville Liddicote and it is a pacifist college. Liddicote wrote a children’s book that was banned and suppressed by the British government (which made me wonder if Winspear timed this novel with the 75th anniversary of The Story of Ferdinand the Bull by Munro Leaf which had almost every aspect attributed to Liddicote’s book). Huntley and the British government are worried that the Red Menace might be taking a foothold here.

Maisie gets the job as a philosophy professor but no sooner does she start than Liddicote is murdered. The suspects are numerous. There is the German-born Roth, Liddicote’s right hand man and his staunchest support in peace activism, Francesca Thomas, another professor, the mysterious Rosemary Linden who was Liddicote’s secretary and disappeared the day after his death and Headley Jr and Sr, who support the school monetarily. McFarlane and Stratton, who is very attracted to Maisie gets called in to solve the murder. Maisie isn’t’ to help but her work and the murder are linked.

There’s also a subplot that I’m fairly sure only exists because this plot line keeps her assistant Billy completely out of the picture with nothing to do, ditto her friend Priscilla. Sandra, another former maid at the Comptons and a friend of Maisie’s just lost her husband. Maisie puts her to work for her and Priscilla (just a way to show Maisie now has money) Sandra breaks into the auto mechanic shop where he worked to prove he was murdered then disappears. Billy is set to find her and if there is foul play. Also, Maisie is busy trying to buy one of those new governmental revitalizing homes for Billy and his family (again, keeps Billy in the story and keeps showing us she has cash). A third subplot is James is supposed to be Canada but Maisie thinks he’s back in England and not telling her.

These only distract from the main mystery a little and the mystery is a good one. I enjoyed it a lot. Guessed most of it but that’s all right, that’s the fun of it. I liked it a lot with the exception of the subject matter. I just hate politics and as you can imagine this has plenty. Nazism, Communism, Pacifism, etc etc. I do hope, however, in the next book the ‘Maisie has money now’ sledgehammer will be left behind.
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Apr 29, 2011 Jgrace rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery

A Lesson in Secrets – Jacqueline Winspear
4 stars

This is the eighth book in Winspear’s Maise Dobbs mystery series. Maise is an unusual English private investigator practicing in the 1930’s. Her methods include psychological analysis, meditation and even a mild psychic awareness. In this installment she receives a call to join Special Branch in an investigation at a private university. The story line takes a look at both the pacifistic “peace” movement and the growth of fascism. While Maise’s sup...more

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Apr 25, 2011 Diane rated it 4 of 5 stars

We've followed Maisie from her days as a maid in Lady Rowan Compton's estate, through her schooling and tutelage under the brilliant Dr. Maurice Blanche, her WWI service as a nurse in France, opening up her own private investigations/psychologist office, and now working undercover for the British secret intelligence as a university instructor in the current novel.

Maisie takes on the job working to discover if there are any terrorists at the University. She hesitates at first, but remembers her l...more We've followed Maisie from her days as a maid in Lady Rowan Compton's estate, through her schooling and tutelage under the brilliant Dr. Maurice Blanche, her WWI service as a nurse in France, opening up her own private investigations/psychologist office, and now working undercover for the British secret intelligence as a university instructor in the current novel.

Maisie takes on the job working to discover if there are any terrorists at the University. She hesitates at first, but remembers her late mentor Maurice's words to her that she needs to be open to the unexpected. While at the school, the dean is murdered, and Maisie finds herself assisting the police in their investigation as well.

The dean had written a famous children's book about soldiers putting their weapons down and refusing to fight. There were rumors that this book had caused a large mutiny in France during WWI, with British and German soldiers laying down their weapons. This book plays a big part in the mystery, one that is intriguing indeed.

I liked how this novel not only took Maisie out of her comfort zone of work, but forced her to face personal challenges as well. Her friend Sandra lost her husband, and Maisie took Sandra into her home and offered her a job. Sandra uses her position with Maisie to investigate her husband's death. I would like to see Sandra stay on as part of Maisie's office staff.

Maisie worries about her father's health, and his refusal to move in with her at Maurice's home frustrates her. It is ironic that Maisie is so in tuned with other people's secrets and feelings, yet her father is able to hide something big from her.

Billy Beale, her faithful assistant, is stubborn as well. Maisie has offered Billy a downpayment on a new home, one that will change his family's life forever and for the better, but Billy is hesitant to accept. The men in Maisie's life are frustrating her.

And then there is her boyfriend James Compton, son of her benefactor, Lady Rowan. He is supposed to be away on business in Toronto, but Maisie finds out he has been in London. Is their relationship in trouble?

I always learn something of historical interest in these novels, and in this one, we learn that women played a big part in wartime intelligence. Over 10,000 women worked for the Secret Service in London during the war, reporting troop movements, sabotaging the German enemy, and consorting with the enemy to get information. I will definitely be looking for information on this subject.

The rise of the German Socialist Party, the Nazis, is on the horizon, and we see the beginning of the debate between the Brits who, weary of the lingering WWI problems, do not to wish to get involved in Germany's issues, and those Brits who see the dangers of the Nazi Party and Hitler's rise. I can't wait to see where Winspear takes this in future books.

I really enjoyed reading the Maisie Dobbs series; I like Maisie as a strong female character, one young ladies can look up to. Not only is Maisie interesting, but the secondary characters are as well, and Winspear introduces many new ones in each book, rather than just relying on the ones we already know.

I've learned much about Britain following WWI, an era I was unfamiliar with. It seems that while the methods of war have changed over the decades, the effects of it on the people who fought it, and those who love them, remain the same.

If you like historical fiction with a strong female protagonist, and cozy mysteries, I highly recommend the Maisie Dobbs series. (less)

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Apr 23, 2011 Pam rated it 4 of 5 stars

http://iwriteinbooks.wordpress.com/20...

After seven books of post WWI melodrama, Maisie Dobbs is finally beginning to see creeping foreshadowing signs that the next global catastrophe is in the air. Just in time, too, she is recruited by her friends a little bit higher up, at Scotland Yard, to do a bit of undercover digging at a college dedicated to peace.

The old boys' club in the Secret Service ropes Maisie into yet another escapade. This time, it's one that has her entering into a private coll...more http://iwriteinbooks.wordpress.com/20...

After seven books of post WWI melodrama, Maisie Dobbs is finally beginning to see creeping foreshadowing signs that the next global catastrophe is in the air. Just in time, too, she is recruited by her friends a little bit higher up, at Scotland Yard, to do a bit of undercover digging at a college dedicated to peace.

The old boys' club in the Secret Service ropes Maisie into yet another escapade. This time, it's one that has her entering into a private college in Cambridge in the summer of 1932. Her simple goal? To unearth and report any one or any activity "not in the interests of His Majesty's government".

Seems easy enough, especially as the college of St. Francis was founded on the idealistic dreams of pacifism. What would a school built on peace have to do with Maisie's usual line of work? Oh, as one can imagine, it's only a matter of time before someone is in need of services rendering said someone about six feet under. This time it's the initial founder of St. Francis who ends up sleeping with the fishes and try as she might to keep her hands clean and stick to the task assigned, Maisie finds herself neck-deep in the murderous affair.

As the dark days of Germany's impending revival roll in along the horizon, Maisie digs up dirt that will not only be helpful for her current case but also lands on harbingers of the deeper, more unsettling days to come. The country is holding its breath as the series marches onward toward a future we all know as no less than ominous.

With incredible skill, as always, Winspear deftly guides our heroine through the last days of peace as young Nazi's begin to gather in corners and pubs. As usual with her history, events and happenings are not beaten in to the reader but , rather, are woven in more subtly as they might happen were we truly living through time with Maisie and Billy.

I have been waiting for seven books to finally get in to the second world war (which, I admittedly know much more about than the first) and now that it's here, I have to say that I'm a bit worried for Maisie's Europe. Still, I'll wait with bated breath to find out what's in store for our crew as they enter into the harrowing days around the bend.(less)

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Apr 21, 2011 Karen rated it 4 of 5 stars

It's 1932 England and Maisie Dobbs has just taken her first undercover assignment directed by Scotland Yard's Special Branch and the Secret Service. Posing as a junior lecturer, she is sent to a private college in Cambridge to monitor any activities, "not in the interests of His Majesty's Government." As in all good mysteries, it's not too long before a dead body appears, this time it's the college's controversial pacifist founder and principal, Greville Liddicote and Maisie is asked to step asi...more

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Apr 21, 2011 Deb rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-books-read

I love the Maisie Dobbs series and I looked forward to this newest installment. Maisie is recruited by the British intelligence to go undercover as a philosophy lecturer at a "peace" college at Cambridge. It's 1932 and there is a growing fascination with Hitler's rhetoric. Maisie's brief is to find out whether any of the "peace" activities are damaging to the Crown. On the home front, Billy's wife is expecting a fourth child, James Compton seems to be less than truthful, and Sandra, a former Com...more

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Apr 06, 2011 Brenda B Birdow rated it 5 of 5 stars

The latest in the delightful series of British investigator/psychologist Maisie Dobbs as she works in tandem with Scotland Yard's Secret Service as the distrubing seeds of the Nazi party begin to take root in campuses across England and neighboring countries. While the country makes strides in healing from the ravages of World War I, the spectre of another Great War looms large across Europe and Maisie also has her own personal battles to face. Maisie goes undercover as an instructor at a near-b...more

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Apr 06, 2011 Kathy Hiester rated it 4 of 5 stars

In the 8th book in the series, A Lesson in Secrets, Maisie is beginning to recuperate from the loss of her mentor and great friend, Maurice Blanche. He left Maisie most of his fortune, including his house outside of London, where Maisie grew up. Maisie is coming to terms with not only Maurice's death, but her new found prosperity.

In the book Maisie is recruited by Scotland Yard and the British Secret Service to go undercover at a small college in Cambridge. The College of St. Francis was establi...more

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Apr 04, 2011 Norma rated it 5 of 5 stars

I want to be completely honest in why I had chosen this book from Netgalley. There were actually two main reasons. The first is because growing up, my mom always said that she rarely knew anyone with her name, Maisie. It was a name that was passed down in the family for generations. However, my mom refused to name any of us with it because she felt it was too old fashioned.

The second reason is because I have actually been looking into this period of history as I work on my family tree. So it was...more

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Apr 04, 2011 s.leep added it

Words learned: deadheading, inglenook, costermonger, cloche
Words clarified: staid, remit

Private investigator Maisie Dobbs is conscripted by the British secret service of the early 1930s to go undercover as an instructor at a new college founded by the author of a subversive children’s book. Maisie is a skilled investigator and shows an aptitude for teaching, but her job is complicated by a murder on the campus. At the same time, Maisie’s attention is occupied by the mysterious death of a friend’...more Words learned: deadheading, inglenook, costermonger, cloche
Words clarified: staid, remit

Private investigator Maisie Dobbs is conscripted by the British secret service of the early 1930s to go undercover as an instructor at a new college founded by the author of a subversive children’s book. Maisie is a skilled investigator and shows an aptitude for teaching, but her job is complicated by a murder on the campus. At the same time, Maisie’s attention is occupied by the mysterious death of a friend’s husband, the impending birth of her assistant’s new baby, and puzzling clues surrounding the whereabouts of her romantic partner abroad. A model of efficiency and poise, Maisie gets things done using her wits and charm along with skillful delegation and prioritization. But can her methodical approach unravel the truth before it escalates into danger on a national or much more personal level?

This is the 8th in a mystery series, and there is a feeling of history and character development over several books. Maisie is likeable and resourceful. Grounded and independent, but social and not standoffish, she’s an intelligent and motivated protagonist. The plot suggests a cozy mystery, but Maisie’s approach makes it more than this; although she is not a physically-oriented character, and the focus of the novel is much more on characters than on danger, Maisie is more than an amateur sleuth, and not above putting in the legwork and even trespassing in the name of inquiry–or in this case, national security.

Whether intentional or not, Maisie feels her government is focused on some threats to the exclusion of others already active on British soil. In our post-911 world it’s hard not to draw parallels. In addition to the period feel and setting, we also learn about the female workforce for the intelligence agencies and the war effort in WWI Britain. Adding color to the novel, it’s fascinating to see the old class system of a century ago in flux, juxtaposed with a very modern–in attitude and action–heroine.

Some of the detecting, especially of matters that Maisie has to delegate, takes place second- or third-hand through her assistant or the police. I wouldn’t have minded reading about those inquisitions, but I understand–or rather, I guess–that this shift in focus is both developmental for the characters and the plot, as Maisie transitions in this book from snoop to spy. As a first-time reader of this series, I never felt lost, and I enjoyed the book so much that I decided to read the first Maisie Dobbs novel. It turns out I’m not alone: there was a 3-month wait for the book at my library, so I requested that the ebook be made available for download. But between the acquisition and my notification, it looks like someone else beat me to that copy as well.

(http://librarianorama.wordpress.com/2...)(less)

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Mar 25, 2011 Judith Starkston rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-mystery, mystery, strong-women

Jacqueline Winspear fans won’t need any prodding to read her latest Maisie Dobbs mystery, A Lesson in Secrets. The rest of you should be ashamed of yourselves. This is her eighth book in the series, and by now you should have been gobbling up these first-rate novels set in the years following World War I.

Maisie’s character makes for uncommonly good reading. Winspear avoids all the simplistic, predictable versions of independent female sleuth that have proliferated over the years. She has descr...more Jacqueline Winspear fans won’t need any prodding to read her latest Maisie Dobbs mystery, A Lesson in Secrets. The rest of you should be ashamed of yourselves. This is her eighth book in the series, and by now you should have been gobbling up these first-rate novels set in the years following World War I.

Maisie’s character makes for uncommonly good reading. Winspear avoids all the simplistic, predictable versions of independent female sleuth that have proliferated over the years. She has described how, in her childhood, she observed her grandfather who was gassed and wounded with shrapnel in the Great War and her grandmother who was injured in a munitions factory explosion. She had questions that got only partial answers—this was not the generation to talk about their war experiences. She noticed the remarkable women in her neighborhood who had built lives without husbands or children because so many of the men in their generation had been killed. Maisie Dobbs appears to have had a long, sensitive birthing in Winspear’s fertile imagination, although she describes first “seeing” Maisie almost fully understood in a flash while driving one day, which she calls her moment of writer’s grace. All her characters, not only Miss Dobbs herself, will reach into you in ways that go well beyond the usual mystery novel.

In A Lesson in Secrets, Maisie takes a new direction professionally, working undercover for the Secret Service. As her mentor Maurice had written to her, “I have observed your work in recent years, and it does not claim the full measure of your skill or intellect.” Never comfortable without a challenge, Maisie chooses the “new path” Maurice had hinted at. Her love life also takes some mysterious turns, which is not surprising for someone who is as suspicious of the possibility of “happily ever after” as Maisie is.

While her assignment from SIS involves monitoring activities in a Cambridge college “not in the interests of the Crown” rather than hunting down murderers, she still manages to find a dead body. As she discovers, there are a number of people who might have been willing to kill this man with a complicated, hidden past. A Lesson in Secrets, set in 1932, depicts the conflicting political currents of the years leading up to World War II. Maisie and the Secret Service do not see eye to eye about who the true threats to the Crown will prove to be. Not only is this assignment part of a fascinating spider web reaching across Europe, but clearly we have more to come. I can’t wait, but of course, now that I’ve read A Lesson in Secrets, I will wait patiently for one more year. Thank goodness Jacqueline Winspear writes a book a year!
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Mar 22, 2011 Kristin (Beneath Shining Stars, I Read) rated it 4 of 5 stars

By now you know of my love for historical fictions and my penchant for mysteries as well as the fact that on occasion, I wander outside of my comfort zone (YA). With that being said, I was a bit worried about jumping into the world of Maisie Dobbs as this is the eighth book in the series. I know, I know, usually it's a terrible place to begin reading a series but in this particular case, I was pleasantly surprised. The character relationships are well developed and as you dive into Maisie's worl...more

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Jan 16, 2011 edh rated it 4 of 5 stars

I am very excited to finally see WWII on the horizon in this series. I describe it as a "slow burn" to prospective readers because I need them to understand that Maisie isn't about action and adventure as much as she is about peeling away the layers of the people who lived through WWI.

Here, we see Maisie starting to separate from her own practice and begin to take orders from the Secret Service. She is nosing around a small college dedicated to the practice of peace but which may harbor traitor...more

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About Jacqueline Winspear

Jacqueline Winspear was born and raised in the county of Kent, England. Following higher education at the University of London’s Institute of Education, Jacqueline worked in academic publishing, in higher education and in marketing communications in the UK.

She emigrated to the United States in 1990, and while working in business and as a personal / professional coach, Jacqueline embarked upon a li...more

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The Mapping of Love and Death (Maisie Dobbs, #7)

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A Lesson in Secrets (Maisie Dobbs #8)

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