cbr18bingo
Card – Middle (as per title)
Oh, dear, have gotten behind in my reviewing (definitely not in reading) of my pet Maisie Dobbs series.
It’s 1932 and Billy, her invaluable assistant, has a wife on fragile ground, and meanwhile, her beloved mentor Dr. Maurice isn’t doing too well either. In the midst of all this, she gets a new case that she can’t refuse. A wealthy couple has just come back from France, where the remains of their son have been uncovered on the battlefield along with letters to a young woman in his hands, but matters are not as simple as that. It’s soon discovered that he was murdered by his fellow soldiers. Naturally, the parents hire her to get to the bottom of this. But once hired, the parents are subjected to a brutal attack. Obviously, someone wants this to be all hushed up. Maisie ain’t having this.
I think that the thing I especially love about the series, not to mention that they are spiffing good mysteries, is how they reveal the midwar issues of Britain. The class structure that had held for so long was beginning to break apart. Maisie is a prime example of this. Humble beginnings, but swept into the upper classes as her talents show themselves. And then there is the decimation of the ruling class during WWI. Not to mention the predilection of the ruling class in Britain to side with that German upstart, Hitler. I mean, kings resigned over that. And of course, we, in retrospect, can see where this is all going. Let’s just say, it’s right mess. At least our girl Maisie has her head on straight.
