The Mapping of Love and Death

One thing I find intriguing about Ms. Winspear's mysteries is how the crimes often look so unusual - and yet the motives so often boil down to basic greed. I enjoyed getting to know a little more about how important map makers were in a time when there were no satellite pictures to give armies a sense of where they were. I also was very pleased to see that Maisie is finally ready to move forward in her personal life - and sorry to see the loss of one of the major influences in her life. A satisfying installment in this series.

When the body of an American cartographer is unearthed by a farmer in France, the man’s parents ask Maisie Dobbs to go through the papers accompanying the body and, if possible, find the young lady with whom their son had apparently been in love almost 20 years before. Maisie’s search uncovers far more than she expected, and the information she develops places both the man’s parents and Maisie herself in mortal danger…. This is the seventh Maisie Dobbs story, and one of the most poignant: aside from the mystery itself, Maisie finds both love and death in her personal life, and some huge changes in her circumstances. I have been enjoying these books, particularly with respect to how each character feels like a fully developed show more person complete with all the complex emotions each human being harbours; in that regard, this one may be my favourite so far. Recommended! show less

Maisie Dobbs, investigator extraordinaire, satisfies in this book. The story begins in 1932 when Maisie must find the killer of a recently exhumed soldier from the Great War. During this time her mentor becomes ill.
And James Compton is on the scene. I ate this one up!

I hate coming in to a series midway, but after hearing nothing but raves for the Maisie Dobbs book, and this one in particular, I decided to plunge in and see what happened. I'm both sad and pleased I did so, because I had such a great time with this book, and I am desperate to start the series and get more Maisie.

When describing this to my wife, Masterpiece Theater/BBC-ish-ness is what I latched on to: Maisie is restrained, scarred by her experiences in World War I, in an era in which class and gender structures are being rigidly maintained and shaken up. (I kept recasting her in my mental film, since the only thing I'm fuzzy on is her age.) She's from of a working class family but had a unique opportunity to gain education, and as a show more result, she's aware of her place both 'upstairs' and 'downstairs'. I'm sure the theme of class straddling isn't new to the Maisie books, but I really liked that Winspear doesn't dismiss this after the first few books as I'm sure it colored and affected every aspect of Maisie's interactions.

The feel of the mystery runs more like Agatha Christie -- we're told about the crime, but we don't witness any gruesomeness, which I appreciate! -- but unlike Christie, this isn't a cagey whodunnit. I'm lazy with my mysteries -- I don't like to solve the crime -- so I appreciated that Maisie did the heavy lifting for me.

There's a romantic element to the story that I understand is a bit new and unusual for the series, which again I have mixed feelings about: on one hand, I love savoring it here, and I'm a bit sad I'll have to wait six books for it!; and on the other hand, I really appreciate that Winspear doesn't keep her 'formula' for these novels the same and force Maisie to remain without affection.

I'm being pretty vague on the plot because ultimately that wasn't what hooked me to the story. Like everyone has said, Maisie really is reason for reading, and I found her to be fascinating, intimidating, and appealing. I think one could read this story with no knowledge of the Maisie universe and be fine: Winspear offers tidbits that reference the previous books, and I never felt baffled or confused by a relationship she had.

Now I just have to decide: start with book one, or grab book 8 (A Lesson in Secrets)? show less

First Line: Michael Clifton stood on a hill burnished gold in the summer sun and, hands on hips, closed his eyes.

Try as I might not to play favorites, there are still mystery series that are near and dear to my heart-- ones that I will always recommend first whenever I'm asked "What's good?" Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series is on the shortlist of my favorite series. I know readers who do not like the time period about which it's written (1930s showing the aftereffects of World War I), but they love these books, and it's all due to the characters.

Maisie was born into the English lower class and became a maid for a wealthy family when she was a young girl. Fortunately her employers were liberal thinkers who recognized Maisie's show more intelligence and fed it. After serving as a nurse in France during World War I, Maisie completed her university education and with the help of her teacher and mentor, Maurice Blanche, she set up practice in London as a private investigator.

In this seventh installment of the series, Maisie is asked to help a wealthy American couple after their son's body is plowed up in a French field. Although the rest of the bodies in the bunker died when it collapsed, Michael Clifton did not. He had been murdered. His parents are not aware of that fact, but Maisie is. What his parents are concerned about are the love letters from an English nurse that were given to them with the rest of Michael's effects. When Maisie begins her investigation, the American couple is attacked in their hotel room and very seriously injured. Maisie knows she's going to have to be very careful working this case.

In each book, Winspear addresses an area of World War I that may not be familiar to most readers. The Mapping of Love and Death covers the importance of cartography in the conflict. The mystery was dangerous, but one of its threads was a bit easy to guess. What I enjoyed most about the book was the author's setting the stage for future events in her characters' lives.

She shows the utmost empathy when writing about World War I and its effects on people, but she never leaves her characters behind. Maisie's assistant, Billy Beale, has his own aspirations and problems to deal with, and they're a part of the story. Maisie's mentor, the elderly Maurice Blanche, plays a role in this book, as does James Compton, the son of the people whom Maisie worked for as a young girl.

In a way, the mystery in The Mapping of Love and Death took a backseat to the main characters, but I didn't mind at all since I got the distinct impression that Winspear was doing a bit of her own cartography with her characters' futures. I am definitely looking forward to the next books in this series! show less

I’m getting kind of sick of WWI stories, especially now that this book’s present time is 1932. I’m actually looking forward to what will hopefully be WWII stories and I hope that WWI will be (mostly) left behind in future books, and the sooner the better.

I was interested in the storylines from the start though.

I enjoyed the brief appearance of California in the U.S. even though it was nowhere near me and included unfamiliar terrain.

I’ll definitely keep reading. I love seeing what happens with everyone, not just Maisie. It looks as though things are about to get even more exciting. Fascinating stuff!

Right now I’m feeling very envious of Maisie. I suppose that most readers want to witness happy, good, lucky things happening show more to main characters and I do too but sometimes I wish that some characters don’t have their lot improved. It would be more like real life, I think. I will say though that what does happen in this book makes perfect sense and the series story is moving along in an incredibly satisfying way.

I really love Maisie, and I also enjoy most of the other characters, and will greatly miss some characters, though I have a feeling the reader will get to revisit them in brief flashbacks.

I do wish that one thing in this book had been wrapped up but maybe it will be in future books in the series.

I think the main reason why this series of books aren’t exactly page turners for me is that they have such long chapters. My preference is to end each reading session at the end of a chapter and it’s easier for me to start a chapter if it’s not a big time commitment.

This book was one of my favorites so far. 4-1/2 stars

I read a Kindle e-edition and an Overdrive audio edition, my favorite e-formats, both borrowed from my public library. show less

So glad to see Maisie's personal life taking a giant leap forward in this book. It's about time. It seems more effort was put in to developing the characters personal lives than in the mystery. This was for me the weakest mystery in the series so far. In this book Maisie is charged with determining the death of an American cartographer named Michael Clifton during World War I. Was he killed by enemy fire as was the rest of his unit or was it murder? To complicate matters the parents of Clifton are attacked and left for dead in their motel room. A lot of themes in this mystery are rehashes from past books. The best parts of this book are more Priscilla and her toads and James Crompton. The saddest part is the final farewell to Maurice show more which left me in tears. I look forward to learning how Maisie's changed circumstances in both love and money affect her in the next book. show less