Maisie Dobbs Novels

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The Maisie Dobbs Novels are an ongoing series of mystery novels by British author Jacqueline Winspear. The series follows the activities of Maisie Dobbs, an English psychiatrist and investigator solving crime in the first half of the twentieth century. The series follows growth of Maisie's investigative business, with each book focusing on a particular crime or mystery, as well as Maisie's own personal development as she comes to terms with the trauma of her experiences as a nurse in World War I.

The first novel, Maisie Dobbs, was published in 2003 and was awarded the 2003 Agatha Award for Best First Novel. Subsequent novels have appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list. According to reviewer Carol Memmott of The Washington Post, "For fans of historical fiction as well as mysteries, the Maisie Dobbs novels offer an honorable heroine whose mettle has been forged by personal tragedies and her country’s experience in two world wars."^[1]

Books[edit]

Maisie Dobbs (2003)

Birds of a Feather (2004)

Pardonable Lies (2005)

Messenger of Truth (2006)

An Incomplete Revenge (2008)

Among the Mad (2009)

The Mapping of Love and Death (2010)

Maisie is contacted by the family of a dead American serviceman, Michael Clifton, who had volunteered to join the British army during World War I.

A Lesson in Secrets (2011)

Maisie is hired by Scotland Yard to conduct undercover surveillance at the University of Cambridge and winds up investigating the murder of Pacifism Greville Liddicote.

Elegy for Eddie (2012)

While looking into the death of costermonger Eddie Pettit, Maisie finds herself up against secretive forces in the government and media.

Leaving Everything Most Loved (2013)

Maisie investigates the murder of a young Indian woman whose death has been largely ignored by Scotland Yard.

A Dangerous Place (2015)

Maisie plans to return to England after the death of her husband and unborn child, but makes an unexpected stop in Gibraltar. Here, she becomes involved in the Spanish Civil War and attempts to solve the murder of a member of the town's Sephardi Jews community.

Journey to Munich (2016)

At the request of Robbie MacFarlane, Maisie goes undercover as the daughter of a British subject imprisoned in Nazi Germany.

In This Grave Hour (2017)

As Britain enters the Second World War, Maisie is hired by the Belgian Embassy to investigate a series of murders of Belgian refugees seemingly connected to World War I.

To Die But Once (2018)

Maisie investigates the disappearance of Joe Coombes, a fifteen-year-old apprentice painter involved in a secretive government contract. The novel takes place during the Dunkirk evacuation.

The American Agent (2019)

As the USA refuses to enter the war, Maisie teams up with Scotland Yard and United States Department of Justice agent Mark Scott to investigate the murder of a young American journalist, Catherine Saxon, in London. She struggles to balance her personal life with the needs of the investigation and her new commitment as a volunteer ambulance driver. The novel takes place during The Blitz and features surgeon Archibald McIndoe.^[2]

The Consequences of Fear (2021)

Maisie is stretched to the limit as she balances her new role as adoptive mother to Anna, a top-secret job with the Special Operations Executive, a romantic relationship with American agent Mark Scott, and the investigation of a mysterious crime whose only witness is a traumatized teenager. The novel discusses the relationship between Britain's covert activities in France and the French Resistance.

A Sunlit Weapon (2022)

Maisie works against the clock to connect a mysterious series of incidents to the impending visit of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.

Main Characters[edit]

• Dr. Maurice Blanche - A mentor and tutor to Dobbs since her teen years, Blanche is a celebrated detective with a mysterious past. When Blanche retires, he turns his clients over to Dobbs in support of her efforts to open her own business. Despite their close relationship, Dobbs' work eventually causes a rift between them. Although they remain on speaking terms, mentor and student grow apart for a time.
• Priscilla Partridge née Evernden - Maisie's wealthy and stylish best friend. A former classmate at Girton College, Cambridge, she dropped out to join the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry and drove an ambulance in France. All three of her brothers were killed during the war and her parents died shortly after of influenza, prompting Priscilla to move to France. She and her husband Douglas have three sons, Tom, Tarquin, and Tim, raised with the help of their nanny Elinor.^[3] Priscilla smokes cigarettes and struggles with alcoholism throughout the series.
• Billy Beale - Maisie's assistant. A former patient during the war, Billy reconnects with Maisie after she rents an office in the building where he works as caretaker. Billy is drawn in to helping Maisie with her work and quickly becomes her righthand man. Billy is married; he and his wife Doreen have several children.
• Sandra Tapley - Maisie's secretary. Having worked at the Compton household with Maisie in their youth, Sandra is hired part-time after the unexpected death of her husband.^[4]
• Simon Lynch - A doctor who Maisie Dobbs meets through Priscilla at Girton. They fall in love, and when working together during the war, a bomb destroys the convalescent hospital at which they were working. Simon is seriously injured; he survives after the war but cannot communicate and needs constant care. He lives in an institution paid by his parents. Maisie is injured as well, but makes a full physical recovery. Maisie focuses on her work at first to distract from the pain of loss, and then to work through her struggle find love again.
• Viscount James Compton - Son of Lord Julian Compton and Lady Rowan Compton, and Maisie's husband. He is killed, along with his and Maisie's unborn child, while conducting research into military planes in Canada.^[5]
• Mark Scott - An American diplomat attached to the Embassy of the United States, London, and Maisie's second husband. Mark makes his first appearance in Journey to Munich before reappearing in The American Agent, when he is assigned to work with Maisie on a case involving the mysterious murder of a young American journalist in London during the Blitz. Maisie and Mark fall in love and are eventually married.^[6]

Recurring Characters[edit]

• Chief Inspector Caldwell - An inspector at Scotland Yard, he has developed a mutually beneficial professional relationship with Maisie - albeit reluctantly.
• Lady Rowan Compton - Maisie's employer and, later, mother-in-law. It is Lady Rowan who first recognizes Maisie's intelligence and introduces her to Maurice.

• Lord Julian Compton - Maisie's employer and, later, father-in-law.
• Andrew Dene - An orthopedic surgeon and love interest of Maisie's.
• Frankie Dobbs - Maisie's father.
• Brenda Dobbs née Bromley - Maisie's stepmother.
• Anna Dobbs - Maisie's adopted daughter. After being Evacuations of civilians in Britain during World War II during the Blitz without any identifying details, five-year-old Anna is placed with Maisie's father and stepmother at Dower House. Following the death of Anna's elderly grandmother, Maisie becomes the girl's legal guardian and petitions to formally adopt her.^[7]
• Robert "Robbie" MacFarlane - An inspector at Scotland Yard's Special Branch, he recruits Maisie to take on a role with the Special Operations Executive in the lead-up to the Second World War.
• Richard Stratton - A detective inspector and love interest of Maisie's.

References[edit]

External links[edit]

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