Maisie Dobbs (Book 1)

Extremely well written historical mystery. This first book in the series focused mainly on the background on the character Maisie Dobbs and less on the actual mystery. Looking forward to reading the next one.

Maisie Dobbs, what is there to say? Objectively I am not a cozy mystery girl. I’m not even a mystery girl. But I did need a pallet cleanser for all the fantasy I’ve been reading. It was nice to come back to reality, and the book was exactly as advertised. I would say if you are a cozy mystery reader, this was lovely and easy. I would recommend it. It did feel very cursory in the sense it was setting up for what I now know is a long series!

Maisie is a working class woman during WWI. She shows a gift for investigative work and proceeds to start an agency. In her first case we hear all the back story of her life and were delighted at the plucky spirit she demonstrated. Love Okinawa forward to the rest of the series

I liked this book. Really, I did. The writing is wonderful. But I was a little confused about what kind of book it wanted to be. Was it a mystery? Or the story of Maisie's experiences as a nurse in WWI? Either one would have been great, but to start the mystery and then have an extended flashback to her childhood and experiences leading up to where the book started was, for me, too big a break in the narrative. But I liked each part, so I read on. And both parts finished in an unexpected way, which I couldn't help but like.

One of the dumbest books for my 2022 book club. Surely there must be a statue in a church somewhere to commemorate the perfection of this character. Not a single misstep or flaw. So a maid at the turn of the century is singled out by the homeowner upon first meeting her as " very striking" and there was " something about her". Then they go on to fund private tutoring for her where, of course, she's an exceptionally gifted student. It got to the point where I had out my erasable pen and was writing in the margins comments such as "WTH" and " seriously??" In a scene at the end she's going to a place to confront a dangerous man and she breaks out into song and the soldiers join in. Its laughably bad. However, it must be loved by many as there are seventeen sequels. I felt like I was watching one of those ridiculously fictional 1940's movies. At any rate it should provide interesting conversations at book club because one member read it already and loved it so she added it to our list. I can say definitively I'm glad I only paid $2.00 for it & that was too much.