among the mad

Book: Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear
Finished: May 2009
Pages: 303
Challenges:
** Spring Reading Thing
** The Genre Challenge
** Read and Review
** 20 in 2009
** War Through the Generations
** What's in a Name







From Publishers Weekly
Bestseller Winspears sixth Maisie Dobbs novel (after 2008s An Incomplete Revenge) raises the stakes considerably for her psychologically astute sleuth. On Christmas eve 1931, a man Maisie passes on a London street detonates a bomb, killing himself and slightly wounding Maisie. This traumatic event turns out to be linked to threatening letters the British prime minister starts to receive, the first of which mentions Maisie by name. Maisie joins a high-powered investigative team devoted to averting the cataclysmic disaster promised by the unknown author of the messages. By providing the letter writers perspective, Winspear removes some of the mystery. In addition, Maisies speculative guesses about the profile of the criminal, while accurate, have less logical grounding than traditional puzzle fans might prefer. Still, Winspear does her usual superb job of portraying London between the world wars.


This is the 6th book in the Maisie Dobbs series by Winspear and I loved it! I have enjoyed all 6 Maisie books and I am not usually a mystery genre fan, but these are so gently written that the story line just rolls along to the end. These are not light and fluffy though--they deal with the reality of the commoner in Britain between the world wars--focusing especially on the poor treatment and plight of the WWI veteran. I always finish a Maisie story with a satisfied feeling, always looking forward to the next story.