Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear
Maisie Dobbs, Psychologist and Investigator, began her working life as a servant in a Belgravia mansion, only to be discovered reading in the library by her employer, Lady Rowan Compton. Fearing dismissal, Maisie is shocked when she discovers that her thirst for education is to be supported by Lady Rowan and a family friend, Dr. Maurice Blanche. But The Great War intervenes in Maisie’s plans, and soon after commencement of her studies at Girton College, Cambridge, Maisie enlists for nursing service overseas.
Years later, in 1929, having apprenticed to the renowned Maurice Blanche, a man revered for his work with Scotland Yard, Maisie sets up her own business. Her first assignment, a seemingly tedious inquiry involving a case of suspected infidelity, takes her not only on the trail of a killer, but back to the war she had tried so hard to forget. It is interesting to see the merging of the working and upper classes and how England was forced to change because of the war. Scars run deep and are not always on the surface.
Most of the story is told through flashbacks. This is proving to be an excellent series and I cannot wait to read more. It has a very Sherlock Holmes style about it but does not feel like a copy.
Birds of a Feather
Maisie gets hired by a wealthy industrialist to find his only daughter, Charlotte Waite, who has gone missing. With the help of her cockney assistant, Billy Beale, Maisie sets out to learn all she can of Charlotte's habits, character and friends. No sooner has Maisie discovered the identities of three of these friends than they start turning up dead—poisoned, then bayoneted for good measure. At each crime scene is left a white feather. Increasingly preoccupied with these tragedies, Maisie almost loses sight of her original mission, until it becomes apparent that the murders and Charlotte's disappearance are related.
The ending was not difficult to deduce but it is enjoyable to see how she developes. Plus I got to meet the author a few weeks ago at a Mystery Author's luncheon at the Cerritos Library. I bought a copy of this book for my mother. You see a lot of the culture being developed after WWI is over.
Pardonable Lies