Saturday, September 1, 2012

Mini Review: Elegy for Eddie

I'm a great fan of this series.  With each new volume, I almost dread reading it because I'm afraid the story will get stale, or the characters won't be able to continue to expand.  Jacqueline Winspear has so far avoided both those traps.

In this one, Maisie Dobbs is called upon to look into the unexpected death of a young man, Eddie Pettit, she's known since her childhood.  Was is murder? An accident? and what about all the ensuing unusual deaths  of people connected to Eddie?  And why was her assistant Billy Beale assaulted while he was investigating this?

In addition to the current mystery, Maisie continues to struggle with her new status as a wealthy woman, while remembering her roots as a servant in the mansion she now inhabits. She is growing more and more anxious about her relationship with James Compton.  Will they marry?  Will James demand that she give up her private investigating business?  Will she be able to maintain her sense of self?

Frost these two layers of the cake with an excellent discussion of the political atmosphere in England during the second half of the decade (1930s) as the world watched Adolf Hitler grab power and re-arm.  Winspear has given us another great mystery, some well-researched historical facts woven in the fiction, and managed to continue the romance without resolving the ultimate question.  There's definitely room for more of this delightful series and protagonist. 

Author: Jacqueline Winspear
Publisher-Format: Harper (2012), 352 pages
    also Audio from Hachette Audio 10hrs 10min
Narrator: Orlagh Cassidy
Subject: morality, rise of Hitler, mystery surrounding several deaths
Setting: London, late 1930's
Series: Maisie Dobbs (#9)
Genre: mystery- private investigator
Source:  Hardback : a contest win from Audra at unabrigedchick.com;  
      Audio download from public library

1 comment:

  1. I've only read one of this series but I'm anxious to read the rest. Just a matter of too little time, too many books, you know.

    ReplyDelete

Welcome, thanks for stopping by. Now that you've heard our two cents, perhaps you have a few pennies to throw into the discussion. Due to a bunch more anonymous spam getting through, I've had to disallow anonymous comments. I try to respond to all comments posing a question, but may not always get to you right away.