I've said numerous times before that Maisie is my comfort read. After finishing Tess, I was in desperate need of some Maisie comfort.
Book 8 in the Maisie Dobbs series did not disappoint.
Maisie's strong, no nonsense approach to life was the perfect antidote for Hardy's pessimism.
My only concern for this book was that even with the change of career, a move to Cambridge & the flush of new romance, Maisie, herself somehow felt a little stale.
For the first time, I felt the intrusion of Winspear in these books. I could almost see the author stalking the pages trying to work out what direction she would like take Maisie next. She's aware something needs to change, but she wasn't quite ready to tackle it in this book. It felt like she was the laying the groundwork for what comes next....at least I hope that's what she was doing!
Because as much as I love Maisie, I want to see he grow and mature and move onto new things if that's what she needs to do. I'd hate to see her stagnate.
I need to try Maisie again. For years the people at my favorite mystery bookshop have been suggesting that I'd like her books, but I had a hard time with the first one & didn't get too far. Maybe it was just the wrong time! It's interesting what you say about feeling the author more in this book. Not that it's the case here, but there have been a couple of series where I think the author was reluctant to let go of her characters, but really had run out of ideas for them, and the series just felt stretched too thin.
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