MAISIE DOBBS SERIES

MAISIE DOBBS by Jacqueline Winspear

I am not going to do a specific post about Winspear's Maisie Dobbs book #18, The Comfort of Ghosts. It would be too hard not to spoil things if you haven't read the series. Instead, for those of you who are up to book 18, I will just reassure you that Winspear doesn't disappoint in this last adventure. For those of you who have never given this series a chance, they really are great reads.

The series begins with Maisie at the age of 13. In the beginning, Maisie is a maid at Belgravia House to Lord and Lady Compton. When she is caught reading in the library of the house, a series of opportunities open before her that eventually lead her to becoming a detective. It's not just her natural gifting and inquisitive nature that land her in this role. No, she is trained, and it includes studying the science of psychology and the human mind, how to focus and how to notice things. All of this is threaded into the backdrop of WWI initially and then moves into WWII and eventually post WWII. Throughout it, Maisie grows up both in body and in mind. Despite being a mystery, the story is calm and gloriously told. There is honor, overcoming, healing, and the meshing together of social structures. Once it hooks you, it draws you back time and time again. I highly recommend it.

HEADS UP- There is a nod to Eastern Religion in these books. Maisie does practice meditation, for example and throughout the series she has mentors who instruct her in some of the ideology. However, I feel that this is only one strand of the ball that makes up the personage of Maisie and what is covered in these books. While it is there, it is not the crux of the story or the events brought to light in a wartorn world.

I am trying to think back over the series, so forgive me if I forget anything, but regarding sex this is a clean series. We know at one point she lives with a man. We know she has a one night stand with another, but it's like Agatha Christie where you are told it happened without the details.