Play Book Tag discussion

This is the first in a series of mysteries featuring Maisie Dobbs, a woman PI. What makes this even more unusual is the historical setting--England after the Great War. There are other female characters that, by contrast, make it quite clear that Maisie's path to private investigator is quite extraordinary. The book is split between two time lines-- her current investigation and her backstory. Of course, her current investigation does force her to consider her own unresolved issues which stem from her time as a nurse in France during the war. I enjoyed both storylines. Who can resist a young girl sneaking into the library of her wealthy employer at 4 am to read and write, and quite predictably getting caught. I also enjoyed her thoughts and methods of investigation. I did not like the events at the climax of the mystery. Quite frankly, I thought this part of the story was utterly preposterous! But it did tie everything up in a nice tidy bow. I am not a big mystery reader so I probably won't be moving onto other books in the series, but I did enjoy this one.

I really like this series, though there are sometimes bits that are harder to believe than others.

I really liked this book and want to read the others in this series.