Valerie asked Jacqueline Winspear:

I want to thank for Maisie Dobbs, as well. I enjoy reading mysteries series, so what you do fits me very well. However, while many series are extremely formulaic, yours are not. The writing is more literary than a normal mystery series. I always learn so much about the time period and the people when I read one of your books. And, your characters are so human, well-rounded, and real. How do you do this?

Jacqueline Winspear Valerie, thank you for your question. I guess to start, I don't see why a work of mystery or any other "genre" fiction should not be literary. Some of the best, most intelligent, literary writing today is coming from writers in what people term "the mystery genre" - and it's in mystery that readers are exposed to fiction dealing with the sharp end of societal problems, historical events, etc. The fact that a mystery takes the reader through chaos to some sort of resolution speaks to the human condition - through the lens of mystery we see humanity at its best and worst. I don't know that I can say how I do what I do - but I know that I have a story in my head that I want to tell, and I do all I can to tell that story to the best of my ability. To do anything less would be to let myself down. That's how I look at it. And I'm like any other writer out there - I am always afraid to pick up the book when it's published, because I know I could have done better - after all, time is the best editor!

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