I like Maisie Dobbs, I like the setting, I like the history, I like the pace of the story, I like many of the supporting characters, and I like the larger themes of remembrance and the complexity of human connection...BUT I'm not so thrilled with the author's use of "feeling the spirit of the dead in the room" to solve a crime or the love triangle trope. I'll likely give the 3rd book in the series a go just to make sure because in the end I enjoyed it more than it annoyed me (haha!). A solid 3 stars.

3.5 stars

So I am not entirely ready to give up on this series yet. While I am struggling to make a connection to Maisie, I like her enough to keep reading and am curious to see how she pulls herself up from the ashes. I can’t say that I love her as much as other female detectives that I’ve read but I am trying to give her a shot.

I liked this book a little better than the first one. It was a little cliche at times and not really heavy on the mystery, but it was intriguing enough for me to keep reading. I liked the Great War connection and I felt that that piece was what really kept me reading.

I also liked the potential for a romance in her future. In the first book, her first love is damaged beyond repair and Maisie is kind of stuck in limbo, unwilling to move on with her life. In this book it seemed like she was finally willing to consider other potential suitors and I am looking forward to seeing how that plays out in future books.

Part of me felt frustrated by Maisie’s techniques in this book that I don’t remember from the previous book. For example, Maisie would interview someone or would discover a clue and then not reveal to the reader some of the info that was given or what the clue was.

That was frustrating, I felt like I was deliberately being kept in the dark so that I wouldn’t figure out the mystery. In essence I felt like I was not working ‘with’ Maisie on the mystery or being able to try and put things together but rather being told about the mystery.

This book was more about the mystery than in the previous book so I did like that we are kind of moving into the whole mystery part of the story more rather than focusing on Maisie’s personal life.

I would be willing to give this series another book or two before I decide if I will keep reading. It wasn’t ‘bad’, it was definitely an improvement over the first book but still needs a little ‘something’…..hopefully the potential romance will add that little something that I am looking for to hook me in this series!
See my full review here

I am definitely late to this series but I am loving it! Her main characters are so well written, and the realities of the effects of WW1 on both the country and the people add so much to the stories.

I'm giving up on this series. I want to like it, but I just don't. I'd like reasons behind her solving cases instead of mystic hunches. The set-up is great. The character not at all.

Also this book particularly annoyed me. Throughout, the author kept pointing out how little Maisie ate. All these comments about how she'd forgotten to eat breakfast or how she peeled the batter off her fish. I started wondering if the author wrote this while dieting since it added nothing to the character or the story.

I liked this so much better than the first, and I'm finally excited to read more of this series. I really like the psychology aspect post-war. I'm also intrigued by all of the characters. I can't wait to continue.

Looking forward to more in the series.

Not great literature but addicting. I can see that I am going to have to ration myself on these. As soon as I start one, I cannot put it down. Okay, booklady, from now on, only one Maisie Dobbs @ month.

Probably two and a half stars.I'd heard a lot about the Maisie Dobbs books from writer friends online and perhaps that was part of the problem - too much hype had increased my expectations. The story of Maisie and her offsider Billy who are to find and bring home Charlotte, the daughter of wealthy and self made grocery magnate, Joseph Waite, takes some twists when murder becomes involved.
While this book is readable and it certainly fits the bill of 'cozy mystery,' I found I never really became involved greatly with the characters. I felt distanced from them. Perhaps it's also a result of the wrong book at the wrong time after some of the other great books I have read which are rich in characterisation, but I doubt I will be in any hurry to read another Maisie Dobbs mystery. Having said that, if you like your murder mysteries sedate and without any unnecessary language and sex scenes, (which I admit I prefer too)you may well find this to your taste.

Couldn’t get into this. Might try again sometime.

4.5 stars

Ah, I really liked this one! It was more of a mystery than the first one and, I felt, more cohesively told. We see more of Maisie’s internal life, hopes and fears, and I like her better. Great core cast of characters is forming.

We saw so much detail about lives of everyone involved in the crime, and even though it wasn’t a great surprise, the journey was very satisfying, and many characters followed paths of their own. Again, WWI and its after effects are a big and interesting theme.

Also, I really enjoy the little ritual Maisie has at the end of the investigation, of revisiting places and people. It allows for excellent closure.

Emanuela - per RFS
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Seguo con piacere le pubblicazioni di questa brava autrice che ha creato un personaggio davvero originale e interessante sotto molti punti di vista. Una serie quella de Le inchieste di Maisie Dobbs dove approfondimento psicologico, vivacità di ambientazione e storia rendono ogni libro sempre fuori dal comune.

Maisie Dobbs è una ragazza di grande acume e intelligenza motivo per cui, nonostante una posizione sociale non elevata, ha avuto il privilegio di venire educata dal famoso Maurice Blanche, medico e investigatore che in età adulta deciderà di cederle lo studio permettendole di avviare una sua attività di investigazioni.

Da figlia di un capo stalliere, Maisie diventa infermiera durante la prima guerra mondiale per poi ritrovarsi a vivere e respirare l’alta Società.

È un’epoca di grandi cambiamenti quella in cui la protagonista si muove: la crisi economica post bellica e il numero incalcolabile di reduci e mutilati senza lavoro, sono tra le piaghe più gravi della società. È soprattutto il dolore di chi ha visto morire figli, mariti e amici a essere il protagonista di questo nuovo caso che collega la scomparsa di una giovane ereditiera con una serie di misteriosi omicidi: donne apparentemente normali vengono prima stordite con del tè alla morfina e poi accoltellate con una baionetta.

Maisie con l’aiuto del suo assistente Billy – invalido di guerra con moglie e figli a carico – conduce un’indagine accurata con tecniche modernamente approfondite, scoperchiando tanti tristi segreti e tragedie familiari inimmaginabili.

Lei stessa, che porta sul suo corpo i segni di una granata nemica,sarà capace di provare empatia verso il colpevole.

Lo spettro della Grande Guerra è perennemente presente nel romanzo,nel quale è possibile trovare anche messaggi di speranza e rinascita.

Tifo per la protagonista affinché trovi un marito in grado di sostenerla e permetterle di completare la sua vita.

Finally finished! Though it took me a while to get through it, I did really enjoy this one and, though set in the past, the subject matter is relevant to today. People do not often consider the aftermath of war, or how it affects people — families — after.