Maisie Dobbs by
Jacqueline Winspear
hbk out July 04
Published by John Murray
A first novel introducing a new private investigator, this time based in
the late nineteen-twenties. Maisie Dobbs is a young lady from humble
origins, her father being a costermonger. On the death of her mother,
she enters the service of an aristocratic family to become a house-maid,
and somewhat unbelievably, is 'taken up' by them, educated and sent to
Girton College, Cambridge. Tutored and then employed by a friend of
the family, Maisie eventually starts up as a private eye, one of her first
jobs being to spy on a woman whose husband suspects her of being
unfaithful.
A large part of the book is really a biography of Maisie, who acts as a
nursing auxiliary in France during the Great War. Indeed, thanks to the
dedication in the front, it is apparent that the author is basing much of
her story on two of her grandparents, who suffered injuries during that
war. The whole book is written with a certain prim naivety, which suits
the period in which it based, though I felt that the author would
write like that anyway. The crime elements of the plot are fairly thin, as
the history of the characters obviously takes precedence. Out of the
usual run of private eye novels, Maisie Dobbs has a certain charm and
will appeal to older readers, but unless the story lines are firmed up a
lot more, I wonder if she will have the strength to sustain a series.
(
Bernard Knight
ex Home Office Pathologist and author of the highly acclaimed Crowner John series)
Maisie Dobbs by
Jacqueline Winspear
