Maisie Dobbs

Friday, September 5, 2008

Maisie

I thought I'd add a little, once in a while, book feature to my blog. I
am going to school to become a librarian, so I might as well add books
to the mix of never ending hobbies at dontcallmebecky, right?

I recently finished
reading five books in the Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear. I
came across the first book, Maisie Dobbs, a few years ago at a used
book store and was immediately drawn to the cover. (I believe that was
in my vintage travel poster loving phase). Having grown up reading
mysteries as comfort books (Bobsey Twins, Nancy Drew, Boxcar Children),
I was excited to find a non-gory, non-thriller adult mystery series to
try. One nice feature about the series is that she introduces character
and plot information in each subsequent book very minimally. I've often
read serial books that spend at least a chapter recapping previous
books in the series, so it was nice to just have a few flashback
sentences here and there.

The books are set in post World War I England and Maisie Dobbs,
psychologist and investigator, is a new style of detective who uses
body language, astute interviewing techniques and her acute sense of
deduction to solve crimes. These are cute, mostly light, quick reads,
but they have a lot of information about WWI and various lifestyle
facts from the 30's that make them interesting. If you're like me and
were a Nancy Drew fan in your earlier years, you'll probably find these
books to be just as entertaining. And, for you fiber fans out there,
Maisie learns how to spin, die and weave tapestries in An Incomplete
Revenge.

Here's the complete list in the series:
Maisie Dobbs 2003
Birds of a Feather 2004
Pardonable Lies 2005
Messenger of Truth 2006
An Incomplete Revenge 2008

Winspear has a new addition to the series, Among the Mad, that is due out in 2009.



14 comments

  1. A friend of mine was telling me about a heroine much like this who assumed the body language of the people that she was investigating to solve the crime. I wonder if Maisie Dobbs was whom she was referring to. At any rate, I will be looking for these at my local library. I loved reading all of my mother's Nancy Drew books when I was a child, and I love a good mystery, but I too am turned off by the mysteries that use gore, violence and gratuitous sex as page turners.
    Thanks for sharing!

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  2. I wondered what you were studying. I was a BIG Nancy Drew fan and have many of the books. Also read the Bobbsey Twins too!

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  3. these books look like something i would really enjoy! thanks for the recommendation! and i look forward to many more.

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  4. where do you go to school? i'm going to apply to library science programs this year, and am still reading up on them...
    also, i love that type of book, although lately i've branched off into series like grace harlowe. the writing is even more indicative of the period in which they were written than old nancy drews are. funny stuff!
    (oh - and randomly stumbled upon your blog a while ago and love the sewing!)

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  5. woot! Thanks for the recommendation - I've ordered the first in the series!

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  6. I loved Nancy Drew when I was little. I'll have to give these a try. Thanks for the recommendation.

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  7. ooh! You just gave me an idea for my husband for xmas. He loves books like this! thanks!

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  8. I gotta say that I'm in love with the cover art on these books. hehe
    They also sound like great reads.
    But I seriously want to frame them.

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  9. I love the Maisie Dobbs series, but have not read the latest one. I'm a mystery fan, love the post WWI setting, and like well-developed characters. Winspear manages to have Maisie grow throughout the series, too. Need to get An Incomplete Revenge, so I can be prepared for the 2009 offering!

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  10. these look fab...i'm an agatha christie fan..i'm going to see if i can get ahold of these.

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  11. I got book number one from the library on Saturday! I look forward to cracking it open tonight.

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  12. Library school, eh? Hum....
    I've been meaning to give this series a try :)

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  13. I'm going to have to put a couple of these books on hold right now!

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  14. Okay, you've sold me! I LOVED Nancy Drew, and even liked The Hardy Boys. So from your description, I think I'll like these. *sigh* Just what I need, more books.

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