Customer Reviews

The Mapping of Love and Death LP: A Maisie Dobbs Novel

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(40)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In "The Mapping of Love and Death," author Jacqueline Winspear's 1930s British sleuth Maisie Dobbs is called upon to find a mysterious missing woman for a prosperous American couple, Edward and Martha Clifton. Their son, Michael Clifton, an expert cartographer, enlisted in the British Army during World War I, and his remains and personal effects were recently discovered, including a journal and some letters, including some love letters. His parents are eager to find their son's romantic interest and have some concerns about this death. When they themselves are attacked, the case takes on much more urgency.

Most of the characters, with the possible exception of Maisie's father, are developing and moving forward. It's especially amusing to see Maisie and her former adversary, now-Detective Inspector Caldwell, sparring and fencing with each other. The book is well-written (if occasionally overly descriptive), with a strong narrative that carries the reader through.

Now for potential faults. I figured out who one of the killers was as soon as the character appeared on the page, and I also knew how the book would end. Maisie is as unruffled and serenely compentent as ever. Those who find her trajectory from former servant to educated investigator unbelivable will not like this book. Those same people will probably dislike her new love interest intensely. Neither really bothered me, because they happened in semi-believable fashion and, besides, I like the occasional flash of fantasy in my stories.

The ending provides a shift both in circumstance and perspective that will move Maisie forward - one way or another - in her life. Rather than looking backwards, at the Great War, Maisie will have a new focus. I'm looking forward to seeing how that plays out.

I have been reading the "Maisie Dobbs" series by Jacqueline Winspear since her first novel, "Maisie Dobbs". I was eagerly looking forward to this book and I was fortunate that it was offered in the Vine program. "The Mapping of Love and Death" is every bit as well-written and well-plotted as her previous ones.

Series books, like the "Maisie Dobbs" novels, represent both a challenge and opportunity to the writer. The challenge is to keep the story and characters moving forward in an engaging way and the opportunity is to accept the challenge to do so. Winspear does both. Her lead characters, Maisie Dobbs, Billy Beale, the Compton family, and Maisie's mentor Maurice Blanche continue to age as time passes from England in the 1920's to England in the 1930's. Maisie's detective agency is succeeding in the midst of the Depression and she is given a new case that involves the death of of an American soldier during The Great War and the repercussions on to the soldier's family. As usual with Maisie's cases, the truth at the end contains many deceptions and cover ups.

As real life does, I suppose...

Winspear's writing is so good that a new "Maisie Dobbs" reader could pick up this, her latest, and feel completely comfortable reading it. She reintroduces old characters and situations in such a nuanced way that doesn't seem repetitious to the veteran series reader. She has written a great addition to the "Maisie Dobbs" series. Enjoy.

THE MAPPING OF LOVE AND DEATH is the latest entry in the Maisie Dobbs series. While it can stand alone, I do recommend that new readers start at the beginning of this series with MAISIE DOBBS. In THE MAPPING OF LOVE AND DEATH, Maisie is asked to investigate the death of a cartographer killed in WWI, apparently a casualty of war. As Maisie investigates, she is attacked and comes to realize the cartographer was murdered.

I couldn't put this book down. It was nice seeing so many returning characters from previous books in this series. What's more, I wasn't able to figure out "whodunit", which is always a sign of a successful writer. If you haven't read this series, I suggest you give it a try. I think you'll be glad you did.

Maisie receives a letter from a Doctor she knew during The War. She had worked with him and his team from "Mass General Hospital" when they were at the front. He asked her to meet with an older couple from Boston who want Maisie to look into their sons last days during The War. Their son had enlisted in the British Cartography Section of the British Army in 1914. He was accepted (though he was American by birth) because his father had been born in England and they sorely needed cartographers. He went missing in 1916 around the time of the Battle of the Somme.

In the spring of that year (1932) some farmers in northern France had opened up a cavern that turned out to be a set of rooms from a Great War trench. In the trench was their son and most of his unit, they had been buried during an artillery bombardment. After meeting the Clintons and reviewing the autopsy done by the British Army Medical Corpe, it was established that he had been killed by a blunt force to the head. In other words he had been murdered. With some letters from an unnamed nurse and his diary (all preserved by the sealed condition of the trench) Maisie sets out to see if she can find his killer.

So begins one of the best mysteries in this series since the initial book. In addition to this marvelous mystery, Maisie also has to deal with: 1) Billy's wife returning from the psychiatric hospital, 2) her mentor Dr. Maurice Blanche's illness, 3) her feelings for a friend of Priscilla's husband Douglas, 4) dealing with Inspector Stratton's replacement at Scotland Yard, and 5) the budding relationship between her and Lord and Lady Compton's son James who has returned from Canada to take over the family business.

Having always had a purpose in life as well as a goal, Maisie now is looking at her mid-thirties and deciding where she wants her life to go. Her old beau Dr. Andrew Dene has married and is expecting the birth of his first child. Though she doesn't think in terms of a biological clock, she knows the reality of life.

Winspear should gain loads of new readers and keep her old readers holding on to the final page.

Even better, should be what is to come. In less than a year (January 1933) Hitler will become Chancellor of Germany, and things in Europe will really start to heat-up. Should be a long, fun ride.

Zeb Kantrowitz

Award winning Jacqueline Winspear plunges the reader deep into the life of ordinary citizens of Great Britain of the 1930's with THE MAPPING OF LOVE AND DEATH.

Maisie Dobbs has a new client, the American parents of a young man who disappeared in France during WWI. Recently his body along with papers and mapping instruments was discovered when some tunnels collapse on a farm. But German shelling didn't kill the young cartographer; he was murdered by a blow to his skull before the shelling began.

His father, Edward Clifton engages Maisie to discover who was responsible for his son's death while at the same time protecting his wife from the truth of Michael's demise. Later Mr. & Mrs. Clifton are attacked in their hotel room and require hospital care. Someone wants an old secret to remain buried and will stop at nothing to insure its grave.

Maisie is torn between her case and the rapidly deteriorating health of her friend and mentor, Maurice Blanche while a new personal interest seeks admittance to her life.

THE MAPPING OF LOVE AND DEATH is an engaging read with plenty of plot twists the keep you turning the pages.

Nash Black, author of Indie finalist WRITING AS A SMALL BUSINESS and HAINTS.

THE MAPPING OF LOVE AND DEATH by author Jacqueline Winspear is another chapter in the continuing adventures of Maisie Dobbs. Maisie is a "psychologist and investigator" in post World War I London. A nurse during the war, Maisie returned to London and was mentored by one of the most skilled men in his field. Detective Dr. Maurice Blanche. The bulk of this story takes place in 1932, when an American couple come to England seeking Masie's help in discovering who killed their son nearly 20 years earlier (WWI) and made it appear that he was a casualty of an enemy shelling. Their son was a cartographer who left America to enlist in the British Corps in order to volunteer his much needed services as a map maker to his father's homeland.

The Maisie Dobbs mysteries are a clever series, mixing cozy and historical fiction with a more traditional mystery. Their most appealing aspect, however, is the way Winspear develops her characters and pulls the reader into their lives. The mystery almost becomes peripheral and you actually find yourself more interested in finding out what happens to Maisie's family, friends, lovers and to Maisie herself than to the identity of the culprit. That is not to say that the mystery and its intricacies are not intriguing and well written, it's just that Winspear has created an engaging cast of characters and has made the world they inhabit so captivating, that the reader is literally transported to another time and place, one filled with history and life lessons, that they will want to visit again and again.

As discerned by Maisie's mentor Maurice Blanche, "All maps are drawn in hindsight, and hindsight if interpreted with care, is what brings us wisdom". A wise observation most of us can relate to and learn from as we map our own lives. 3 1/2 stars

Most series fiction runs the risk of becoming stale, with protagonists mired in a kind of rut. The Maisie Dobbs series was teetering along that edge, with Maisie having established a successful "inquiries agency", taking cases that were always throwbacks to WW I. The Mapping of Love and Death, to all appearances, was yet another cast in this mold, but happily, as the story progressed, it became clear that Maisie's life was destined to veer off in a new direction.

While investigating the death of an American cartographer, who had volunteered in England's military during the Great War, Maisie soon determines that the cause of his death was suspicious, not battle related at all. Her mentor, Maurice Blanche, has been struck by severe respiratory problems, and her worries for Maurice are a constant burden. During a visit to his sickbed, Maisie is encouraged by him to open her mind with respect to a certain young man, James Compton, whom she had written off as a wastrel. As the ramifications of her current case grow threatening, she finds that Maurice is correct about James, and derives some much needed attention and support from their growing friendship.

Maisie, of course, resolves the questions surrounding her case, but the reader discovers, happily, that Maurice has provided Maisie with a profound new challenge. Will she accept it? Will she deepen her relationship with James? Will she find a cure for her loneliness? Where will Maisie go from this point forward? Looking forward to the next episode to find out. Go, Maisie!

It is 1932 in Jacqueline Winspear's "The Mapping of Love and Death." Londoner Maisie Dobbs has been a private inquiry agent for three years and she relies greatly on her trusted assistant, Billy Beale. Their new clients are the parents of Michael Clifton, a young cartographer who never returned from the First World War. A farmer in the Somme Valley was digging when he and his men unearthed the remains of a surveying team. One of the bodies was that of Clifton, who was found along with his personal effects, letters, and a journal. Maisie's task is to find the mystery woman whom Michael fell in love with during the war, and to look into the circumstances surrounding his untimely death. Michael's correspondence and written reminiscences, as well as the interviews that Maisie conducts with various individuals, ultimately clarify what really happened to this unfortunate man during his final days.

With consummate skill and meticulous attention to detail, the author evokes the uneasy atmosphere in Britain in the era following the First World War, a tumultuous conflict that wreaked havoc on so many. Not only did a generation of young men sacrifice their lives, but even those who returned were often gravely wounded both in body and spirit. Maisie, who nursed injured soldiers under horrific conditions, still has painful memories of that tragic time.

Maisie Dobbs is a refreshing character, an emancipated woman who, in spite of her humble roots, received a fine education thanks to her intelligence, tenacity, and the sponsorship of generous benefactors. Occasionally Maisie feels lonely and vulnerable, but she never loses sight of all that is good in her life. She is fiercely loyal to her friends and is not easily intimidated. Maisie and Billy put a great deal of effort into the Clifton case, which proves to be "a bloody maze." In addition, a shocking act of violence leads Maisie to believe that someone is desperate to cover up his past misdeeds.

"The Mapping of Love and Death" resonates more as a psychological study than it does as a mystery. Maisie is as sharp as ever, but she has amazingly good luck at every turn. Some useful contacts plus one or two coincidences yield key evidence that helps her connect the dots in a rather tidy way. What is most memorable about this book are the well-drawn relationships. Maisie is fiercely protective of Billy, a resourceful and hard-working individual whose wife is slowly recovering from a breakdown following the death of their young daughter. In addition, Maisie cautiously embarks on a romance with an unlikely suitor. She has a cloud hovering over her, as well, since her dear friend and mentor, "parent to her intellect, to her understanding of the world," is seriously ill.

Whether she is comforting a poor and sickly woman who needs a shoulder to lean on, putting an officious detective inspector in his place, or courageously confronting a villainous foe, Maisie is always up to the task at hand. "The Mapping of Love and Death" is, above all, about the importance of self-respect, family ties, friendship, and integrity. Maisie Dobbs is an admirable and appealing heroine who consistently stays true to these ideals.

This is my favorite Maisie Dobbs book so far! Something magical happens in this book - all the bits and pieces come together beautifully - Pris, James, Billy and Doreen, even the supporting cast in the form of Ella, and the Cliftons. The plot builds at a steady pace, and there are quite a few 'sub-plots' that serve as very enjoyable detours. The characters, their motives and behavior, are entirely believable. Most of all, the writing resonates with emotional depth and clarity. Maurice's death and Lady Rowan's carefully chosen words for Maisie are both handled with sensitivity. Winspear has an uncanny talent for tuning us to our own sense of intuition.

Orlagh Cassidy is a fabulous narrator. Her accents as Billy, Maurice and of course Maisie are very entertaining.

Jacqueline Winspear does it again with another really wonderful Maisie Dobbs book. Like the others in the series, it's the kind of book that makes you want to read it in one sitting. The characters are rich, interesting, and well-written. The story is suspensful and satisfying. It's truly an enjoyable read and I'm already looking forward to the next one. You'll love this book!