10th Anniversary Edition with a special Afterword by the author
Maisie Dobbs got her start as a maid in an aristocratic London household when she was 13. Her employer, suffragette Lady Rowan Compton, soon became her patron, taking the remarkably bright youngster under her wing. Lady Rowan’s friend, Maurice Blanche, often retained as an investigator by the European elite, recognized Maisie’s … elite, recognized Maisie’s intuitive gifts and helped her earn admission to the prestigious Girton College in Cambridge, where Maisie planned to complete her education.
The outbreak of war changed everything. Maisie trained as a nurse, then left for France to serve at the Front, where she found — and lost — an important part of herself. Ten years after the Armistice, in the spring of 1929, Maisie sets out on her own as a private investigator, one who has learned that coincidences are meaningful, and truth elusive. Her very first case involves suspected infidelity but reveals something very different.
In the aftermath of the Great War, a former officer has founded a working farm known as The Retreat, which acts as a convalescent refuge for ex-soldiers too shattered to resume normal life. When Fate brings Maisie a second case involving The Retreat, she must finally confront the ghost that has haunted her for over a decade.
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Love all the books in this series!
I love maisie dobbs
I always learn something and I leave the story wanting more from the characters
It’s a wonderful series
Taking place in England just after WWI, Maisie is finding it difficult to reinevnt herself. She finds her true calling through a friend who has faith in her abilities and helps her to learn what she needs to know. She staffs her very own office with an injured soldier she nursed in France. They form an unbeatable team. Very good read! Enjoyed it …
I love the entire Maisie Dobbs series. I am a fan of well written historical fiction and these books are among my favorites. They take place in the 1920’s and 1930’s and show the lasting effect that the two World Wars had on the lives of many English people during these decades.
I very much enjoy the Maisie Dobbs books. They are well written, the mysteries are nicely thought out and the filling out of the characters is good, I feel that I know them as people. I have a strong connection to the British Isles and the time period portrayed in the stories. I do recommend them strongly.
This is another great series to follow!
Different in how she showed Masie’s thought process. Not your cookie cutter detective story. The characters are real and their history is true.
An intelligent main character with depth. I love the whole series.
Love all of her books. Maisie is a terrific character.
Pretty good read, although I’m not sure about the probability of this actually happening. Not really sure about her mystic lessons from Khan, either.
The story jumps back and forth from the present to the past and back.
This is the start of one of the best series about England before, during and after WWI. The duty and commitment exhibited by Maizie are tantamount to her loyalty and bravery.
I’m rereading the Masie Dobbs series now. Even better the second time through!
Winspear takes you on a rollicking ride.
I would read this again. Very well written.
Introduces us to smart, people-loving, sometimes misguided Maisie as she becomes an “Investigator and psychologist”. Love Maisie Dobbs!
4.5/5
I’m officially a new fan of Maisie Dobbs! This one kept me up late!! I loved seeing every stage of her life…really made me feel like I knew her well…and yet in some ways she was still an enigma. Wonderful supporting cast, lots of WW1 period details.
But it was Maisie’s unconventionality that kept me riveted and wanting to know …
I’d seen this series mentioned on many of the traditional “best books” award lists and decided to dive in after having spent the last few weeks reading dark British historical mysteries by Sarah Waters (which I enjoy immensely).
As a first-in-series book I expected that more than a normal amount of the book might be dedicated to backstory. The …
Loved the entire series. Read in order. This is the first one. The others are even better m, but you need this one for background. It’s good, but the series really builds.
Not exactly realistic, but you get to root for our heroine detective! You go girl!
I so enjoyed this mystery book that takes place in England, that I read all the following books. She is a fascinating character who is taken into service at a home outside of London. But that gives her a chance for an education and an entry in the work of solving mysteries but using her head.