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Maisie Dobbs
- Narrated by: Rita Barrington
- Series: Maisie Dobbs, Book 1
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Mystery
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In the latest mystery in the New York Times best-selling series, Maisie Dobbs must unravel a case of wartime love and death—an investigation that leads her to a long-hidden affair between a young cartographer and a mysterious nurse..... August 1914. Michael Clifton is mapping the land he has just purchased in California’s beautiful Santa Ynez Valley, certain that oil lies beneath its surface. But as the young cartographer prepares to return home to Boston, war is declared in Europe,,,,
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To the costermongers of Covent Garden Eddie Pettit was a gentle soul with a gift for working with horses. When Eddie is killed in a violent accident, the grieving costers are skeptical about the cause of his death. Who would want to kill Eddie - and why? Maisie Dobbs' father, Frankie, had been a costermonger, so she had known the men since childhood. She remembers Eddie fondly and is determined to offer her help. But it soon becomes clear that powerful political and financial forces are equally determined to prevent her from learning the truth behind Eddie's death.
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Spring 1937. In the four years since she left England, Maisie Dobbs has experienced love, contentment, stability - and the deepest tragedy a woman can endure. Now all she wants is the peace she believes she might find by returning to India. But her sojourn in the hills of Darjeeling is cut short when her stepmother summons her home to England; her aging father, Frankie Dobbs, is not getting any younger.
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Another Good one!
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London, 1940: Winston Churchill has just been sworn in, war rages across the Channel, and the threat of a Blitz looms larger by the day. But none of this deters Maggie Hope. She graduated at the top of her college class and possesses all the skills of the finest minds in British intelligence, but her gender qualifies her only to be the newest typist at No. 10 Downing Street. Her indefatigable spirit and gifts for codebreaking, though, rival those of even the highest men in government, and Maggie finds that working for the prime minister affords her a level of clearance she could never have imagined....
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Publisher's Summary
But her very first assignment, seemingly an ordinary infidelity case, soon reveals a much deeper, darker web of secrets, which will force Maisie to revisit the horrors of the Great War and the love she left behind.
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What listeners say about Maisie Dobbs
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- snivsl
- 2022-04-25
Elegant and Absorbing
The writing is elegant and the performance is wonderful and true to the story. Maisie Dobbs draws you in can you become totally involved in the character and plot.
1 person found this helpful
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- KanadianKindle
- 2022-04-18
A new heroine to follow!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The story of Maisie Dobbs was laid out so well, and unveiled at just the right pace. A wonderful start to this relationship with a newly discovered author!
1 person found this helpful
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- Tova McMillan
- 2022-03-25
Just loved the book. Exciting...
Protagonist is so likeable. She is smart as a whip! Really enjoyed the story line...
1 person found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 2022-03-18
A lovely story
Such a moving, interesting, heartbreaking story. I admire Maisie and her work ethic and kindness. It was a joy to listen to this story
1 person found this helpful
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- LK
- 2022-01-30
twisty story
something different from the normal plots of books of this genre. light yet touching on in depth topics
1 person found this helpful
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- Doily
- 2022-06-23
Enjoyed
Will look for more Maisie Dobbs books! (wish I didn't need 15 words because I am finished with 7)
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- leona
- 2022-01-29
Nope
Is that a British accent?
So boring, repeats names over and over and over.
Takes sooo long to get into a storyline.
Good for stroke patients with memory loss though.
Not my cuppa.
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- Anonymous User
- 2021-11-29
A tale that is reminiscent of Agatha Christie.
Really enjoyed the start of this series. Looking forward to continuing. A well-written story that brings Maisy to life.
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- Aditi Sen
- 2021-10-01
Preachy and dull
The lead character is so unbearably holier than thou that the actual mystery suffers. Her backstory is so dull and utterly preachy. As such, I love British rural mysteries, they are comforting. But this pointless apology for colonialism makes no sense. The mystery as such isn’t bad, but the book is frightfully boring.
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- Anonymous User
- 2021-08-30
Truly Awful
Perhaps the writing improved later in the series, but the level of craft in this book is truly awful. If a 15-year-old had written it, one would say that she has promise, but for an adult, this doesn't even approach professional standards.
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- Lori
- 2009-08-07
A delightful discovery
I am so glad I found this series! An intelligent, young woman, former nurse-turned-sleuth in post WWI London was a both a setting and story I enjoyed immensely. After reading this, I went on to read the next 2 in the series and after reading those, have added the next to to my "to read" list. If you're looking for graphic, gruesome murders, CIA car chases and graphic sex in your mysteries, this series probably won't work for you. If you enjoy early 1930's England with a sanely-paced story line and exploring characters as they develop over several books, you should enjoy this.
218 people found this helpful
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- karen
- 2011-01-07
Great series, shakey start
If you've already read other books in this series, skip this first one. It's all backstory, all esential elements of which are repeated, in bits and pieces, in subsequent books. Actually, this book isn't really a "mystery" at all -- its a flat-out novel. There's nothing much to ferret out, no suspense worthy of the word, but it is an introduction to the excellent character of Maisie Dobbs. The series is wonderful, and very carefully researched so as to be historically accurate. The narrator does a great job on all of them -- I love the series, just not this first book.
143 people found this helpful
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- Cindyhasitall
- 2010-03-07
Can't put her books down
Wow, what a command of that era, and what an impact it had on women from England and the world. As a writer she threads her story lines and characters together, and these characters are interwoven across her books. She does not leave loose ends, she has developed a brilliant, intuitive and yet fragile detective. This series deserves the following it has and I can't wait for her newest books to come out. I would recommend starting with the first and working forward in order.
101 people found this helpful
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- James
- 2011-04-22
Masie Dobbs
This is one of the more enjoyable books I have read in a long time. It is fun to read an occasional mystery that is not filled with blood and gore althought there are references to World War I severely wounded soldiers. It helps that I love the genre and the time period the mystery took place in.
The pleasure of this audio is greatly is greatly enhanced by the talented narrator Rita Barrington who guides us through this novel with great skill.
I look forward to reading the entire series.
15 people found this helpful
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- Taryn
- 2010-05-14
A new addiction
Save me, I have found a new addiction and its Maisie Dobbs!! A friend recommended this series and after this first book I am hooked. It's wonderful to have a mystery series that is not too explicit as some of my old standby's have become over the years,and doesnt leave you with nightmares. Ms. Winspear's writing is creative and engaging without resorting to gore. Love the narrator. LOVE Maisie!
78 people found this helpful
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- Jean
- 2012-09-03
Historical fiction WW1 era
I have been busy reading books (fiction and non-fiction) about the WW1 era. A friend of mine suggested this series by Jacqueline Winspear. Unfortunately I started with the newer books in the series and have read backwards, this book is the first of the series. It did fill in a few of the missing items not filled in by the series to date. I must say, I have found the series to be fascinating, this is the time in history that women's role made a complete change and this change had a major effect on society. The other books in the series was read by Orlagh Cassidy who I preferred to the reader of this book Rita Barrington. It may be that I was used to Cassidy's voice. Whoever did the singing in the book did a great job. This book starts with the time not long after WW1 when Maisie first opens her investigation business with flash backs to her youth, her working in service in the Lord's household to her time as student at Groton College to her being a nurse in the war. Winspear handled the flashback in an excellent manner. The book laid the foundation for the series. Looking forward to more books in the series.
28 people found this helpful
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- Sally
- 2011-02-20
Entertaining
Very well written. Gives you a good perspective about WW1 and the impact it had on lives. Great characters. I will definately buy another.
28 people found this helpful
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- Nancy J
- 2013-03-19
Great Beginning to an Exceptional Series
I first ecountered "Maisie Dobbs" in 2003 the year it was published. It was the first book I became aware of in the growing sub-genre of detective fiction which I call the "Post World War One Period," when the War is recently ended and the population of Britain is still reeling. Many wounded soldiers, whether physically maimed or crippled or psychologically damaged, cannot re-integrate into society and there is little or no assistance available to them from the government. Many are on the streets begging, looking for work if they can work, and are in the depths of despair.
Having read a number of Post WWI books now, I rank Maisie Dobbs and the subsequent books in the series as the best of the genre. The primary reason for this ranking is the sensitivity, compassion and understanding displayed by Maisie toward these wounded men and and their families and loved ones.
In this first book, we meet Maisie Dobbs, private inquiry agent, in 1929 and learn about her youth as the child of a costermonger (vegetable seller) who must go into service when her mother dies, her education sponsored by her kindly employer, and her training with her mentor, Maurice Blanche, in investigation and psychic matters. But the most important influence on Maisie is her experience as a battlefield nurse in the Great War, sharing the fear and agony with the soldiers she cares for, and finally being seriously wounded herself. These experiences make her able to understand the wounded and damaged men she encounters.
As she establishes her office, she acquires an assistant, Billy Beal, who walks with a limp resulting from severe shrapnel wounds. Her first major investigation involves what she judges to be the suspicious deaths of severely disfigured veterans at a shelter called the Retreat.
Maisie Dobbs is (or was at the time this book came out) unique in my experience because of her combination of compassion and psychic abilities in solving puzzles and mysteries. The writing of Jacqueline Winspear is excellent, and some scenes are very moving. The narration by Rita Barrington is adequate but not exceptional. However, the story itself more than makes up for that, so that the overall rating is 5 stars.
40 people found this helpful
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- Carole T.
- 2012-02-14
Grab This Series!
Start at the beginning and listen to them all! I have both read and listened to all the Maisie Dobbs books and have enjoyed every one. All the narrators are quite good, tho the excellent Orlagh Cassidy seems to have emerged as the standard bearer in the later books of the series. If you like historical "cozy" mysteries at all, you will like these! The wonderful ongoing characters send you happily on into each new addition. I must say that these books started an interest in WWI for me and led me to read more nonfiction. Yay, education! Long Live Maisie!
20 people found this helpful
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- Debbie
- 2014-09-13
Amazing Girl, Maisie Dobbs!
Set before, during and after the Great War, this is a wonderful historical mystery series that will keep you listening. It's clean, yet the depth of emotion and understanding of the horrors of war that the author displays will stay with me for a long time. I appreciate the sensitivity with which the childhood of young Maisie is written, and the seldom touched on mixing of social status. This first book in the series was absolutely necessary to learn exactly what Maisie Dobbs is made of, and I must say, she's made of some very fine stuff. Can't wait to listen to the next in the series!
7 people found this helpful