Maisie Dobbs is a strong intelligent heroine who would be right at home on a Mystery special on PBS. Created by Jacqueline Winspear, this post WWI series centres around the professional career of Ms. Dobbs, a wartime nurse turned psychologist/detective; a rare gift in a historical mystery: a female protagonist that is not an accidental detective. This, in itself, is compelling and the author’s care with historical detail and commitment to research paid off: I could almost smell the hops and hear a Roma violin song playing in the distance.
The setting is really interesting to me: a powerful yet obsolete estate and the dawning of a new day; the inroads of industrialization colliding with centuries old agriculture; community versus nationalism or commonalities versus differences; and the never ending effects of war. I think there are so many stories to be found in times of great change and Winspear is good at mining for them. In fact, this is one of my great attractions to these books: the ability to peer into the lives of women throughout history; there is just not enough in our history books. Lucky for me I enjoy edutainment, especially when there is a mystery involved! So needless to say, there is a lot going on in this book that I cared about, unfortunately, the characters were not at the top of the list. On paper I should love this book, and the protagonist, but I just never felt truly attached to the story.
This book made me think a lot; about war and loss but also about what makes a book truly absorbing, what is it that makes one excited to open up a book. If I knew the answer I probably would not be writing here but I think it has something to do with the right balance between plot, setting and character, something that I am sad to say this book is lacking. I should care about Maisie (I even love her name: Masie Dobbs, it just sounds good) but she is just too distant to relate to as a reader. I am going to read the rest of the books in this series because the background is compelling and the story is interesting enough, but I just can’t say that I will seek them out.
