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Maisie Dobbs, Psychologist and Investigator, began her working life at the age of thirteen 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.

I picked this audiobook up for a road trip. I’d never heard of the Maisie Dobbs series, but it looked intriguing and a bit like a cozy mystery, so I picked it up.

Maisie Dobbs does have a bit of the cozy feel, but I suspect that’s partly due to it being set in the 1920s England with a female detective (of sorts). Still, it was an enjoyable mystery with some good stakes. I suspect this story is a bit slower than the rest because it takes the time to give Maisie’s full backstory, starting with how she ended up working for the nobility to her studies to her war service to opening her own investigations agency.

My only beef with that much backstory (I didn’t mind reading it; it was engaging) was the time jumps. The story starts, then jumps back in time for chapters, then jumps forward again, then back. I don’t think I’ll ever become a fan of this type of story telling (hence the 4-stars).

Despite the split timeline, however, I enjoyed the book and the characters. It’s definitely a series I could go back to.

Rated PG.

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For similar mysteries, try …

The Librarian of Crooked Lane by C.J. Archer
Lattes, Ladyfingers, and Lies by Harper Lin