The Maisie Readalong Concludes with A Lesson in Secrets

Book Club Girl's  Mad For Maisie Readalong concludes with the eighth novel in Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series, A Lesson in Secrets.


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. Thanks to Book Club Girl for hosting this fun, rewarding challenge.

I give A Lesson in Secrets 4 of 5 stars, the same score I give the entire series.

The Mapping of Love and Death

I'm up to the seventh novel in the Maisie Dobbs series, The Mapping of Love & Death, for bookclubgirl's Mad About Maisie Readalong.

There are some dramatic changes in this novel for Maisie. Following the death of her mentor, Dr. Maurice Blanche, Maisie is his heir and now lives very comfortably without any money worries. Having this money enables Maisie to help her assistant Billy and his family move to a more hospitable home, one that will give them a new start after the tragedy of losing their daughter.

She also has a new love in her life, James, the son of her benefactor, Lady Rowan. This is a surprising turn of events, one of the reason I enjoy the Maisie series so; the author constantly surprises the reader with new characters and unexpected relationships- much like life itself. Maisie and James make such a lovely, companionable couple, I'm rooting for them to be happy together.

We also see a new side to Maisie in her interactions with Detective Caldwell. He makes some snide comments about Maisie moving up the ladder because of Lady Rowan and Maurice, and Maisie gives it right back to him. Usually Maisie is more circumspect with her words, but she spars with Caldwell and I found this side of Maisie intriguing.

The character of Khan, a wise man who Maurice introduced Maisie to many years ago, is reintroduced here. He has many words of advice for Maisie, including

"Extremes live within us all. What is given will be taken, what we have is often only of value to us when it is gone."

and

"Anger is a conduit for wonder, a tool for adventure. But it is also an instrument of power- and like all things, power has two faces."

Maisie's case takes us back to the war once again, as she investigates the death of a American cartographer who fought with Britain in France. We get another valuable history lesson about mapmakers and their contribution to the war effort. I did not realize how valuable their skills would be in war, and it was interesting to read about it.

Seven books down, one more to go in the series so far. I really think that Maisie is such a terrific role model for young ladies, and these books would be wonderful gifts for high school girls.

Rating 4 of 5 stars

Among the Mad

Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear
Published by Henry Holt & Co.- ISBN 978-0-8050-8216-6
Hardcover version $25

Reading for bookclubgirl's Mad For Maisie Readalong

The sixth Maise Dobbs book, Among the Mad, is one of the strongest entries in the series. Instead of a case coming to private investigator/psychologist Maisie Dobbs, she is a witness to a crime. A man blows himself up in the middle of a crowded London street,  mere feet from Maisie.

Something about the man, who looked like an injured war veteran, stood out to Maisie, but she could not stop him. Detective Chief Superintendent Robert McFarlane recruits Maisie to assist Scotland Yard's Special Branch with this case. Maisie is not fond of MacFarlane, but she knows she has a duty to assist the police in apprehending the person responsible for the bombing.

A letter was sent to to the Home Secretary stating that more serious bombings would occur, and many more people would lose their lives if their demands are not met. The writer is decrying the poor treatment of returning war vets. They cannot get jobs, decent health care or monetary benefits they are owed.

I liked how relevant this story is to today's readers. Although the story takes place in 1931/1932 London, it echoes the experience of soldiers who have served and been wounded in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The weapons of mass destruction, via a chemical bomb scare, is relatable to many of us who live in large cities.

This novel has a few differences from most Maisie novels. There is more action, a sense of urgency as Maisie races to find the culprit before anyone else is hurt. Maisie also puts herself in harm's way as she directly confronts a dangerous man.

Although the reader doesn't know the exact identity of the bomber, we are privy to his writings, and know his motive and thoughts. That is an interesting twist to this novel, as we are usually in the dark until the very end as to who did it or why.

I always learn an interesting fact from these novels, and in this one, I learned that dogs were used as message carriers, went on patrol, and were used to increase morale among the soldiers.

Billy's wife Doreen continues her downward emotional decline following the loss of their young daughter. She has to go to a mental hospital, and the conditions there are frightening. Billy's anguish over his wife's illness and Maisie's attempts to help their family touched me.

Among the Mad is a real page turner, with a lot of action; it has emotion and the political messages resonated for me as well. This is a superior mystery.

Rating 4.5 of 5

An Incomplete Revenge

An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear
Published by Picador ISBN# 978-0-312-42818-1
Trade paperback $14

 An Incomplete Revenge is the fifth book in the Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear. I read it for bookclubgirl's Mad About Maisie Readalong, which I have been thoroughly enjoying.

After what I found to be my least favorite of the series, Messenger of Truth, An Incomplete Revenge seems to have Maisie back on track. We learn a few interesting things about Maisie, including the fact that her grandmother is a gypsy. This may explain Maisie's proficiency at 'reading' people and situations as well as she does. In addition to her training with Dr. Blanche, she also has a natural intuition.

I thought that perhaps after Maisie's introspection at the end of the last novel, we'd see more of her personal life, more of her opening up to new things. Other than her weaving class that she attends at the beginning of the story, and her dancing alone in her apartment at the end, we really don't see her 'let loose'.

A part of Maisie's life does come to a conclusion as Simon, her first and only love who was severely injured in an explosion during WWI, finally succumbs to death. Maisie has her best friend Priscilla at her side, thankfully, and she finally gets closer to Simon's mother.

Maisie also comes to a reconciliation with her mentor Dr. Blanche, and her relationship with her father seems to be back on track.

The mystery involves a town with a wealthy bully and a long-held secret about the tragic deaths of Dutch family during WWI, which Winspear gives enough of a hint that a careful reader can figure out, and a surprise twist about a hidden identity. Fans of mysteries should be very satisfied with this story.

An interesting new character is introduced in the form of Beattie Drummond, a female reporter who is looking to make a name for herself and ends up helping Maisie. Her line about the vicar's duties- 'hatch (baptism), match (marriage) and dispatch (funerals) had me laughing out loud. She and Maisie are both in male-centered professions, and I think that if Billy and his family ever move to Canada, Beattie would make a good assistant for Maisie. I see a lot of potential in this relationship.

I enjoyed reading about the gypsy family, and learning about their culture. One of the best things about the Maisie book is learning about the historical context of this era. It's interesting to compare the strong feeling of fear and hatred that people who are different from the majority back then (gypsies and the Dutch family) and today (Muslims), and what those feelings can cause a mob mentality to do.


A strong entry in the Maisie series; on to Among the Mad next.  

Messenger of Truth- Mad for Maisie

Messenger of Truth  by Jacqueline Winspear
Published by Henry Holt and Co.
Kindle edition $9.99

For bookclubgirl's Mad for Maisie Read-A-Long, I read the fourth book in Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series, Messenger of Truth,  which is a bit of a departure from the first three books. Many of the characters that we've come to know- Maisie's dad, her mentor Dr. Maurice Blanche, her friend Priscilla, her boyfriend Dr. Dene- are reduced to cameo roles in this story. Only Billy Beale, Maisie's assistant, has much of a storyline, and his is sad indeed.

Maisie seems dissatisfied with her life. She has a new home, but no real friends, and her relationship with Dr. Dene is taking second place to her career. When Georgina, a war journalist, hires her to find out whether her artist brother Nick died in an accident at an art gallery or was murdered, Maisie becomes enmeshed in a new world of artists.

Georgina introduces Maisie to her artist parents, Nick's artist friends, a gallery owner and an American art collector. Maisie is very organized and literal minded, as established by Winspear's frequent references to Maisie's index cards, colored pencils, and the case map that Maisie creates with "facts, thoughts, feelings, hunches and questions". (The case map seems like a forerunner of the murder board we see on today's cop shows, like TNT's The Closer.) This art world is a departure for her.


The war again plays a part in the book,  as Nick and his friends worked in propaganda, creating posters for the war effort. Nick also fought in the war alongside his sister Nolly's husband, who died in the war. On the night Nick died, he was ready to unveil his masterpiece, a work about the war that some people would rather he never painted. Through's Nick's art, he becomes a messenger of truth.

I like how Winspear sprinkles in clues to some of the mysteries, and although I have to say that while I have figured out some of them, (such as the circumstances of Nolly's husband's death) which makes me feel smart when I am right,  I am always surprised by the big reveal of the murderer at the end; it is never who I thought it was.

Winspear also more directly addresses the disparity of the wealthy and the poor in this novel. Billy and his family struggle, and even take in another family who needs help, but they are grateful that Billy has a job when so many others do not. Maisie found

"she was becoming resentful of the very people who provided her bread and butter and the roof over her head... When she considered the money that passed hands, the seeming inequity of a society where people would spend thousands on a painting, while a child would die for want of a few pounds of medical attention, she was left with a sour taste in her mouth."

 By the end of the novel, Maisie's restlessness and melancholy have morphed into a resolve to change her life. I have the feeling that in the next book, we are going to see a revitalized Maisie in her personal life.

Rating 4 of 5 stars

Pardonable Lies- Mad for Maisie #3

Pardonable Lies- A Maisie Dobbs Novel by Jacqueline Winspear
Published by Picador
Trade paperback- $14

The third Maisie Dobbs novel, Pardonable Lies, is a bigger book, and delves more deeply into Maisie's past and her personal life. When a man asks Psychologist/Private Investigator Maisie Dobbs to help him fulfill a deathbed promise to his wife to find out if their son, who was declared killed during World War I was really dead, Maisie takes the case.

Coincidentally, Maisie's friend Priscilla has come for a visit and asks Maisie to find out the circumstances behind her brother Peter's wartime death in France. Maisie and Priscilla both served in France during the war, and Maisie was wounded in an incident that caused her boyfriend to become brain damaged. He now lives in a permanent vegetative state in a hospital.

All this shakes Maisie, and she reluctantly takes the cases, and heads back to France to face her demons. The scene where Maisie is in the cemetery where so many men lost their lives during the war is emotionally powerful, and reveals a new level of depth to Maisie. All the horrors of war come rushing back, and Maisie is overcome with emotion.

I think many people who have faced trauma will understand Maisie's experience. Maisie has been presented as a character so in control of her emotions, this incident makes her more vulnerable.

Wisnpear ratchets up the tension in this novel as it appears that someone is trying to kill Maisie. Who and why this is happening is a puzzle, as there is more than one suspect.

The title, Pardonable Lies, refers to a few things. Maisie and her mentor Dr. Maurice Blanche have a falling out when Maisie discovers that he hid from her some aspects of his intelligence work during the war. This rift is important, and I wonder if it will permanently affect their relationship.

Maisie is very scrupulous, and her integrity is paramount to her. When she discovers two secrets related to Priscilla's brother and her client's son, she has to decide which is more important- protecting someone or telling the truth. Her internal struggle makes for a powerful story.

I'm enjoying getting to better know Maisie through these novels. In this one, we see Maisie struggle more with her emotions, having to face her past. I liked her friendship with Priscilla, unique because Maisie doesn't seem to have many friends her own age.

I also like getting historical context. Following World War I, when ships were no longer needed for battle, many of them were converted for pleasure travel. Although the world financial depression hurt the economy, travel to the Riviera, Africa and the Mediterranean became cheaper and easier. This opened up the world to many people who hadn't traveled much before.

Pardonable Lies gives us a deeper look at Maisie's life and I found it the strongest of the series so far. This series would be great for high school girls, Maisie is a terrific role model.

Rating 4.5 of 5

Mad For Maisie- Birds of a Feather

As part of the I'm Mad for Maisie Read Along sponsored by the bookclubgirl, I read the second book in the Maisie Dobbs series, Birds of a Feather.  Although it is set in 1930, and World War I had been over for little more than a decade, the effects of the war are still being felt.

Maisie's assistant Billy, who was badly injured during the war, has become addicted to pain killers. His wife comes to Maisie concerned about her husband, and confirming Maisie's own suspicions that something is wrong with Billy.

The main mystery concerns the disappearance of a young woman whose wealthy father owns many grocery stores. Her disappearance comes on the heels of the deaths of three other women, women whom Maisie discovers were friends of the missing woman.

There are many possible suspects, but when the police narrow it down to one of the dead women's husbands, Maisie believes they have the wrong man. She uses the methods taught to her by her mentor Dr. Blanche, both scientific and intuitive, to find the killer. (Again, it could be a forerunner of the popular TV series CSI crossed with The Mentalist.)


My favorite line in the book is one of Dr. Blanche's teachings to Maisie:

"Coincidence is a messenger sent by truth. (That) there are no accidents of fate."

Maisie still visits Simon, the doctor she fell in love with during the war, at the hospital where he will never recover. Her compassion is touching, but in this book it appears that Maisie is ready to move on to having a romantic relationship with another man. She has two possible suitors: Dr. Dene and Inspector Stratton. It will be interesting to see in future books which man may win her heart, and whether either man can stand up to the memory of Simon.

Again, I loved the description of Maisie's clothes. I would love to see illustrations in the book of Maisie's outfits.

I also found the characters in this book more rounded out. Joseph Waite, the wealthy father of the missing girl, is intriguing. He is overbearing with his daughter, but he is kind to his customers and to the families who lost sons and husbands during the war.  Joseph's relationship with his daughter caused Maisie to reflect more on her own relationship with her father, which seems more distant as the years go by.

The Order of the White Feather was something I had never heard of before this book, and it was incorporated well into the story. Young women tend to be dramatic, and the way in which these young ladies thought they were helping the war effort caused more pain than they could have ever imagined. And in the end, it caused them much pain too.

I'd like to see Maisie become more emotionally open, and hope that in future books in the series, we see her find some happiness.  Perhaps in the next novel in the series, Pardonable Lies.  If you enjoy historical fiction and female protagonists, Maisie is the lady for you.

My review of the first book, Maisie Dobbs, is here.

Rating 4 of 5 stars

Maisie Dobbs Review

I'm so excited to be a part of bookclubgirl's I'm Mad for Maisie Read Along.  I read the first Maisie Dobbs book by Jacqueline Winspear a few years ago and fell in love with the quiet, smart Maisie. This challenge gives me a great reason to read all of the rest of the books in the series.

Maisie Dobbs takes place following World War I in London. It's an era that I didn't know much about, and so soaking in all of the atmosphere that Winspear so painstakingly researched was a revelation. Although I'm not much of a clotheshorse, I really enjoyed how the author described Maisie's clothes. My mother-in-law designs and makes antique clothes, and as I read this book, I thought of how much she would love this.

I like how Maisie is so intelligent, yet she doesn't have all the answers. The way she mimics the posture of the person with whom she is talking to make them more comfortable with her fascinated me. Her mentor Dr. Maurice Blanche's psychological insights to Maisie, such as

"Never follow a story with a question, Maisie, not immediately. And remember to acknowledge the storyteller, for in some way even the messenger is affected by the story he brings,"

are illuminating, and useful to the reader.

Maisie's straddling of two different classes of society- her father's working class and her benefactor's aristocratic one- makes for interesting conflict for her. Her father, a groom on the estate where Maisie is a maid, wants a better life for Maisie, yet fears losing her completely to her new life. Lady Rowan, her employer and benefactor, is an interesting character and I hope we get to see more of her in future books.

And in the end, it was Enid, Maisie's fellow maid, who was the greatest influence on Maisie. Her words to Maisie about her duty to help the boys in the war effort may have had the deepest effect on Maisie's life.

Maisie Dobbs starts in 1930, after Maisie has become a private investigator, and establishes the adult Maisie before taking us back to her childhood and the story of how Maisie got to where she is. It is a good technique because we are so invested in Maisie's adult life before we see how she got there.

I felt that the author's take on the horrors of war resonated deeply. So much of what happened to the men and women who fought in war is universal and timeless. While techniques of war have changed greatly since World War I, the awful effects of it have not. I liked seeing war from a female point of view.

But my favorite quote from the book has to do with reading, of course.

"The feeling inside that she experienced when she saw the books was akin to the hunger she felt as food was put on the table at the end of the working day. And she knew she needed this sustenance as surely as her body needed fuel."

That just might be my new Facebook quote.

Since Maisie is a private investigator, there is a mystery to be solved, and mystery fans will be satisfied with this part of the story. But for me, the story of Maisie's life is what I felt most deeply about and I look forward to finding out more about her in the books to come.

Rating 4.5 of 5 stars