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Maisie Dobbs
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Plot Summary of Maisie Dobbs
"

Soho, 2003, 24.00, 294 pp.
ISBN: 1569473307

At thirteen was employed as a maid to suffragette Lady Rowan Compton. The aristocrat found her new employee to be intelligent and mentors the lass. During the war to end all wars, Maisie served as a nurse on an all-female ambulance corps in France. By 1929, Maisie opens up a private investigative firm.

A client hires Maisie in what looks like a simple philandering spouse case, but instead the adulterer is the deceased, Vincent Weathershaw, residing in a graveyard. Maisie's investigation of Weathershaw takes her to the Retreat, a place where soldiers still suffering from war related traumas go to recuperate. Maisie continues her inquiries and even sends an employee inside the Retreat, but she begins to panic fretting over whether one can leave the Retreat once you're a guest?

Readers will enjoy MAISIE DOBBS as a solid early twentieth century mystery, but also feel disappointment because the novel could have been a juggernaut of a historical tale. The story line occurs in 1929 with Maisie the sleuth, but uses flashbacks to her mentoring education and a snail mail “love affair” with a soldier in 1917 who vanishes. The case is fine due to a strong cast especially the title character and will give much pleasure to the audience.

Harriet Klausner
"

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of Maisie Dobbs
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%




Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
Time/era of story: - 1900-1920's
Medical Thriller Yes
Medical Plotlets: - wild experiments on people
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - private investigator
Age: - 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
How much violence does he/she use? - none
Ethnicity/Race - British
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Very much smarter than other characters
Physique - very athletic

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 20's-30's
Profession/status: - doctor
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist - power
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Setting
Europe Yes
European country: - England/UK

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
How many deaths? - 0 (not a murder mystery)
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript
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