Maisie Dobbs (Maisie Dobbs, #1) in Crazy Challenge Connection

Feb 15, 2013 Chaitra rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: banging-heads-on-keyboards, cat-on-the-keypad, mystery, historical-fiction, part-of-a-series, detective, world-war-i

Well. This was a waste of time. I don't think there was an aspect of this book I did not hate. Starting from the holier-than-thou main character, to the non-existent mystery, to the amazing (not) resolution of the non-mystery, to the abrupt hundred pages worth of tedious flashback in the middle of the mystery; everything bothered me.

So. Maisie Dobbs is a private eye. She was a housemaid once, but it turned out that she was one of nature's rare prodigies, reading Latin by candlelight. Her master Well. This was a waste of time. I don't think there was an aspect of this book I did not hate. Starting from the holier-than-thou main character, to the non-existent mystery, to the amazing (not) resolution of the non-mystery, to the abrupt hundred pages worth of tedious flashback in the middle of the mystery; everything bothered me.

So. Maisie Dobbs is a private eye. She was a housemaid once, but it turned out that she was one of nature's rare prodigies, reading Latin by candlelight. Her masters then decide that she ought to be tutored, along with all her work as parlormaid. Enter Master Yoda from stage left, I mean, Maurice Blanche. He fills her mind with such gems as "Rush into conclusions not... In the stillness, wait awhile...", which pop into her mind opportunely in present day when she's talking to clients.

Anyhow. On to the mystery! A ladies infidelity is suspected by her husband, the lady is blameless, and Maisie spends some time giving him shit for suspecting his wife. However it leads Maisie onto a suitably creepy post-war hidey hole for army men affected by the war called The Retreat. Nothing happens. Then, there's someone else talking about the Retreat too, and Maisie decides to investigate. Cut. Flashback into Maisie's early life. Some tedious accounts of class differences. Maisie in college. Maisie as a nurse in WW I France. Maisie with Simon, a brilliant and talented young doctor who worships the ground she walks on. Cut Back. Where were we?

There's hardly a set up for a mystery in this book. The half hearted attempt is cut abruptly so we have pages of Maisie backstory, for no discernable reason. By the time the story comes back to the current time, I lost any inclination of knowing what would happen. I had to finish it though. Maisie herself I thought had a border-line God complex. She instructs her first client to make her a commitment, and to his marriage. She calls herself responsible for the safety of all parties, but she makes friends with and invites confidences (even after the husband has been sent away happy) from her emotionally susceptible mark, by lying about who she is. But let's not call this unprofessional.

She has dodgy methods of problem solving. She may regurgitate the Maurice Blanche homilies to herself, but she the chill down her spine makes her jump into conclusions pretty much from the start. She is never wrong though, so I suppose that doesn't matter either. As for her personal life, she behaves despicably. (view spoiler). The two paragraphs of lame explanations for her actions were the final nail in the coffin of this series for me. I'll re-read Agatha Christie for the nth time instead. ...more

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Mar 10, 2024 Olivermagnus rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: zmarch-24, 2024, historical-mystery, england, coming-of-age

Maisie Dobbs is the first book in a historical mystery set in 1929 London. Maisie has opened up her own investigation agency and her methods are very unique. Her explorations of human motivations, her interest in others' behavior, and her unorthodox methods of ferreting out the truth are very different from the traditional role.

Maisie was born into a working class family. She began her working life at the age of thirteen as a servant in a Belgravia mansion, only to be discovered reading in the l Maisie Dobbs is the first book in a historical mystery set in 1929 London. Maisie has opened up her own investigation agency and her methods are very unique. Her explorations of human motivations, her interest in others' behavior, and her unorthodox methods of ferreting out the truth are very different from the traditional role.

Maisie was born into a working class family. She began her working life at the age of thirteen as a servant in a Belgravia mansion, only to be discovered reading in the library by her employer, Lady Rowan Compton. Impressed with her intelligence, Lady Rowan has her friend, Maurice Blanche, tutor her. With his help she is eventually is accepted at Cambridge. When WWI breaks out, she becomes a nurse, eventually being transferred to France. Ten years later she is branching out on her own after Maurice's retirement.

One of her first clients wants her to investigate his wife because he believes that she is cheating on him. Maisie isn't too excited to be doing this type of investigative work, but she becomes caught up in this case and realizes that there is more to it that she initially thought.

Maisie's investigation involves those soldiers who survived the most gruesome facial injuries and regret that they have. The book centers around a post-war residence for soldiers mentally and physically harmed by The Great War.

I've always been interested in this particular time period. It was one of significant social change. The barriers between social classes were being knocked down. Also, women were slowly gaining more freedoms, including expanded employment options. Maisie represents both of these phenomena. Winspear's command of the period detail of Maisie's Georgian and World War I world was just amazing.

I have never read any of the Maisie Dobbs books, probably because I read the Bess Crawford series by Charles Todd and assumed the were very similar. Now that I have read this, I realize that's not true. I loved Maisie's headstrong manner and rejection of societal limitations and plan to continue this series. ...more

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Apr 15, 2016 Audrey Dellinger rated it liked it · review of another edition

This book ended up being deeper than I thought it would be, considering it is a detective novel. It delves into post traumatic stress disorder in a way that kind of surprised me. Readers should be aware that it portrays a lot of the stereotypes of our heteronormative culture and the social roles of the early 1900s - basically good and evil is very clearly defined and the "good" people were perfect and the "evil" people were absolutely beyond saving all with clearly defined gender roles. This is ...more

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