London, 1929.

Maisie Dobbs begins her life as a servant but is fortunate enough, through the support of her employer Lady Rowan, to receive a good education. Having studied psychology under Dr. Maurice Blanche (a friend of lady Rowans who works with Scotland Yard) she sets up a business as a private detective. Her first case seems relatively straightforward, and she uses her intuition and her excellent interpersonal skills to solve the mystery and help the people involved to understand their situation. During the investigation, however, she stumbles onto something far more sinister and dangerous and this is where the real mystery begins.

As the story progresses we discover that Maisie Dobbs has seen the horrors of war first-hand. Her investigations lead her to a retreat for injured soldiers and we see her empathy for those who have been damaged by the Great War and eventually, the extent of her personal tragedy.

I really enjoyed the atmosphere of London in the post war era, and the plot moves along at a comfortable pace, interspersing Maisies investigation with flashbacks from her life. Jaqueline Winspear captures her characters - both major and minor- beautifully, especially Maisie who is a complex individual. She is courageous and sensitive, but not without flaws and by the end of the book I had run the gamut of emotions from frustration and annoyance to admiration and compassion for Maisie Dobbs.

Its 1929, and Maisie Dobbs, thirty-something, opens her own detective agency. One of her first cases seems like an open-and shut case of infidelity, but after following the man's wife to a cemetery, Maisie isn't so sure.

Maisie, a former scullery maid, Cambridge graduate (though without the degree), and a nurse in France during the Great War, finds herself reliving old memories (not all of them good), as she pursues the case to The Retreat, a home for wounded and shell-shocked former soldiers. Immediately, Maisie has her suspicions about the place, and she sends in her friend, Billy Beale, to investigate.

The flashback scenes seem like something out of Upstairs, Downstairs, right down to the description of Ebury Place (Eaton Place in the BBC TV show). Even some of the characters are dead ringers for their TV counterparts. As far as the mystery is concerned, there's really very little "mystery" to speak of--it's pretty clear what's going on from the beginning. The resolution of the case is pretty flimsy, and the bad guy crumbles under no pressure from Maisie. Also, Winspear makes a mistake in making the whole middle of the book one giant flashback. She would have been better off putting in bits and pieces of flashback here and there instead of all at once.

But I really did like the setting, of England between the wars. Some of the characters are delightful, especially Maisie's friends (in fact, they threaten to steal the show at times). Hopefully, Winspear's detective will continue to grow in the other books in the series, and will encounter actual crimes.

Although Jacqueline Winspear is British, "Maisie Dobbs" often sounds as if it had been written by an American, so thick with English slang is it. It also has the flaw often found in books set in Britain, but written by Americans, that titles of nobility are entirely inaccurately bestowed.

The concept of the book is interesting, but Maisie is a comic-book superwoman. If the characters had been better developed, and the plot less rickety and ridden with coincidence, perhaps the author's impressive research might have been put to a more meaningful use.

When I see a book on so many favorite lists all over the internet and all over Amazon.com I figure this many people can't be wrong. So I read the book in question and nine times out of ten I love the book. And that is definitely what happened with Maisie Dobbs. Loved it! Already recommended it to friends and family and they loved it too. And it's the start of a series! At this point I am part way throught the third book in the series and I love it, love it, love it. If you're considering reading this book, you definitely should read it.

I've enjoyed all four books to date in the Maisie Dobbs series. Winspear is meticulous about doing her homework about the period in question (World War I and its aftermath), and the heroine, Maisie is smart and engaging.

That said, not all four books are of equal quality. For my taste, this one (#1) is the best of the bunch, with #4 (Messenger of Truth) close on its heels. The plot to #2 (Birds of a Feather) was a bit too predictable, while #3 (Pardonable Lies) suffered from the opposite flaw - too many convoluted subplots, with a little too much reliance on deus ex machina to help resolve them.

However, these are minor quibbles about a series which is overall very enjoyable.

But, Ms Winspear, here we are at the end of 4 books already, and the ongoing celibacy of the heroine is starting to bother me. How should I put this delicately? It's time to allow Maisie some chance at fulfillment in a consummated romantic relationship, and not keep her consigned to the emotional limbo where she appears to have been trapped in for several books now.