Maisie Dobbs (Book 1) (original 2003; edition 2004)

Beginning of a series that I'll read more of.
Orphaned young woman working as housemaid, "caught" reading in library, then mentored and schooled & helps with 'detecting'. WWI setting and backdrop.
Easy read and comfortable characters. Glad I found the first in the series to start on.
Read in 2010. ( )

An interesting mystery in need of an editor. More than 1/3 of the book - the middle third - is background on Ms. Dobbs that does nothing to advance the story. It's as if the book cannot decide if it's a murder mystery, and upstairs/downstairs tale, or a romance novel, but it has decided it can't be both at the same time, and one story completely halts as another one butts in. The characters are very well imagined and do not need the pages and pages of extraneous events to be so.

Two stars instead of one because it was at least interesting enough to finish. ( )

Love the characters, love the setting, love the time period. A really great read all around. ( )

A former nurse in WWI turns detective. I liked it and found the characters compelling, but was bothered by a touch of modernity at times. I know that after the war was when all kinds of things changed, but I wasn’t quite convinced by the period-ness of it. [Nov. 2011] ( )

http://dooce.com/2011/04/05/new-tunes-tuesday-pj-harvey

I've heard a lot about this book from library patrons, and I was intrigued enough to pick it up at the beginning of the series. It's an enjoyable read that I think would appeal to readers of Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie, a British mystery steeped in WWI and the postwar era.

Maisie worked her way up through service, attracting the attention of her employers when they caught her using their library at night. Instead of the sack, she gets an education (of sorts) with a private detective type, Maurice Blanche. She then goes to Girton College at Cambridge, but becomes a nurse during WWI. The book begins in the present (1929), then flashes back in a long middle section to Maisie's youth and her experiences during the war. We then return to the present, where Maisie (of course) solves her case - her first one alone since Maurice retired.

The writing is good, if not absolutely top-notch; the period slang is noticeable but not over-the-top. The characters are quite good; I liked Maisie a lot and was rooting for her. Her and Maurice's method of sleuthing is unique, relying on observation and intuition. Those who like their mysteries without terrible suspense or violence (except wartime injuries) will enjoy this series.

Quotes:

"Truth walks toward us on the paths of our questions." (32)

"An interesting phenomenon," said Maurice. "Such control over a group of people. It is, I fear, something that we shall see again, especially in times such as this, when people are seeking answers to unfathomable questions, for leadership in their uncertainty, and for a connection with others of like experience. Indeed, there is a word to describe such a group, gathered under one all-powerful leader...a cult." (273)

"I felt as though I were looking through a window to my own past, and instead of being transparent, my view was becoming more and more opaque, until eventually the time had passed. The time for coming to see you had passed." (290)