Month of Maisie Readalong: An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear

Good morning, readers! To celebrate the release of the eleventh installment in Jacqueline Winspear's massively popular Maisie Dobbs series, the good folks at TLC book tours are hosting a month long series blog tour. So here I am today with book number five, An Incomplete Revenge.

Maisie's latest job should be fairly straightforward: James Compton, the son of Maisie's earliest supporter, is interested in making a large land purchase in Heronsdene. The time is right and the purchase would be very advantageous to Compton Corporation. But James has concerns about the landowner and wants Maisie to do a bit of poking before the deal goes through. 

Maisie figures it'll be a quick and easy assignment but when two young boys are arrested for allegedly breaking into the very same landowner's home, the intrepid investigator realizes the case is more complicated than it initially seems. Heronsdene is rife with petty crime, the townspeople are closemouthed, and the overall atmosphere is just off. The secretive nature of the villagers suggests there's something more than just vandalism and minor thieving plaguing Heronsdene and Maisie intends to find out exactly what that might be. 

This is hands down my favorite of the Maisie Dobbs series so far.

I adored the setting of Heronsdene. The village has an almost insular feel - as though it's completely cut off from the rest of the world, even though realistically it's not at all. The influx of outsiders in search of temporary work with the hop harvest means that the regular villagers have even more stress upon them than usual. And, as Maisie soon discovers, tension is already high to begin with.

I did also love the gypsy aspect of the story. Maisie herself can trace her roots back to the Romany, which means she's very open and sympathetic to the local group that's become the focus of so much suspicion in Heronsdene. (Maisie is generally open and sympathetic to those around her, it's what makes her both a likable and believable character.) It also means that we get a bit more insight into Maisie and her family - her mother and grandmother in particular.

Winspear immediately sets a wonderful ominous and eerie tone in An Incomplete Revenge. I found it not only instantly appealing but it left me with absolutely no doubt that there's something fishy enough to warrant both Compton's concern and Maisie's curiosity. And though it is the fifth in the series, I've personally read them totally out of whack and can attest to the fact that this one in particular seems to be the most accessible so far in terms of having little to no background or context on the series as a whole. (Though I am admittedly a bit more prepared than "little to no background," I've not read the series religiously or in order.)

Rating: 4/5

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here.

For more on Jacqueline Winspear and her work, you can visit her website here. You can also like her on Facebook.

The Care and Management of Lies by Jaqueline Winspear

And for today's second post I'm a part of the TLC book tour for Jacqueline Winspear's upcoming stand alone, The Care and Management of Lies.

Summer of 1914 should be a happy time for Kezia Marchant - soon to be Brissenden. After all, she's to be married soon to a man she loves wholly. But across the ocean the threat of war becomes stronger and stronger with each day. 

Back on Marshals Farm this threat seems so distant and impossible that much of the village acts as if it almost doesn't exist. That is until some of their own begin to return in body bags. Tom Brissenden has no illusions about war and daily battles between his responsibilities at home and his responsibilities to his country. In the end he voluntarily signs on, leaving his new wife to take the helm at the farm. 

In London, Thea Brissenden attempts to go on in her life as usual. She's conflicted about the new marriage between her longtime friend and her brother, certain that Kezia is unsuited for her new role as a farmer's wife. And for her, the war is an opportunity to take up figurative arms against the conflict. Her new role as a pacifist soon lands her in hot water and her only option is to join the war effort to escape. But Thea is unprepared for the realities this was will bring. 

Sooooo I had a little trouble getting into this book. Don't worry, it's not a bad review and I didn't dislike it at all but I had some real trouble getting started. Part of it was simply timing - this was a crazy week and every time I sat down to read I got distracted in by one thing or another. Which is kind of sad now that I've finished. The first pages really set the scene and the tone for the whole book! If I could do it all over again I'd just lock myself in a quiet place (the bathtub) and set aside a big chunk of evening to get to it. And I should have done that to begin with but oh, well.

When we first meet Kezia and Dorothy/Dorrit/Thea it's just days til Kezia's looming nuptials. She and Thea have been friends since their schooldays so one would think they'd both be happy as can be that the upcoming wedding will officially make them sisters. And yet, Kezia's engagement to Thea's brother doesn't necessarily please Thea.

Thea and Kezia both worked hard for their education and it's understandable that Thea feels a bit like Kezia is throwing it away to become the wife of a farmer. Sadly Kezia and Tom's fondness for one another don't seem to temper Thea's disappointment in her friend's life choices. And while Thea is disappointed in Kezia, Kezia also feels a disconnect in their longtime friendship, recognizing that Thea is also making choices that separate the two. Thea is an ardent suffragette and, with the threat of war on the horizon, has also joined a group of pacifists in protesting the country's response to goings on in Europe (what soon becomes WWI).

War is the catalyst that each character needs to really begin to change and grow (though I think Kezia was well on her way before that). (Of the two, Kezia is definitely the one I felt I connected most with.) Between the two of them, Winspear I think truly captures the essence of what it must have been like to be a young woman during war time. The balance between their personal wants and needs and becoming housewives and homemakers. How they reacted to the war and the challenges they faced when the bulk of the men in their communities went to battle.

And it's not just the women that Winspear addresses. It's the men as well. Tom is stationed in the trenches and has become an example (in a bad way) for all the other soldiers. But with Kezia back home, working diligently to ensure that each letter to her husband is a distraction she catches the attention of another man as well. Edmund Hawkes is also stationed at the trenches and as Captain one of his tasks is to read through the soldiers' correspondence for censoring. He too looks forward to each and every letter from Kezia, longing for something more.

These days there are many titles set around WWI, enough for every kind of reader I think. For me, Winspear tackles the subject with grace while never letting the reader forget how awful it was.The effect on everyone involved on the front and at home, soldiers, nurses, wives, workers... no one was immune to the tragedies of this war. Everyone had a different way of surviving - whether it be (as the case is here) Kezia's white lies about life at home meant to life the spirits of her husband or Thea's self-serving but still admirable joining up and serving at the front herself. Hawkes and his surreptitious longing for Kezia thanks to her letters. And of course Tom, who - like many - would never burden their families with the realities of the front.

Anyway, if you couldn't tell, I do heartily recommend The Care and Management of Lies to any fan of historical fiction. Longtime Maisie Dobbs fans might be disappointed that the heroine is not present here, but I assure you you'll quickly become captivated by this new story (and I'm sure there'll be more Maisie to come as well).

Rating: 4.5/5

(The Care and Management of Lies is officially due out July 1.)

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here.

For more on Jacqueline Winspear and her work you can visit her website here. You can also like her on Facebook.

Elegy for Eddie by Jacqueline Winspear

Morning, all! I'm on the TLC tour for Jacqueline Winspear's Elegy for Eddie today.

I've read just one Maisie Dobbs book before now. Normally I'm a strict read-in-order series reader. In this case, it was easy to dive into book nine of the series without any issues. The mystery itself stands alone and there's enough intro material for continuing characters that I didn't feel like I was floundering around at all.

Maisie's latest case starts out as a favor for some long time friends. A handful of men from the market and close friends of Maisie's father have concerns about the death of Eddie Pettit. Pettit was well known for his ability to calm any horse. Though he was a bit slow in other regards, his equine skills were sought throughout the area. Eddie was running errands at a local paper factory when one of the rolls crushed him. The factory is adamant that it was nothing more than an unfortunate accident and the police seem to be in agreement, but the men aren't so sure. In fact, they want Maisie to investigate where the police will not.

If you're looking for a well-plotted mystery featuring a strong and independent woman, the Maisie Dobbs series is a perfect fit. She's a PI and psychologist in 1933 England. As of Elegy for Eddie, she's inherited some money but she comes from a humble background, lucky enough to have been supported by those who saw she was capable of so much more.

One of the stand outs of the series -- aside from Winspear's writing, Dobbs as a character, and the immaculate plotting -- is the setting. In particular, the time period the series is set in. It's clear that Winspear has spent a lot of time carefully researching the period she's chosen. And those efforts have paid off. It's one of the things that makes this series so unique and, I think, beloved amongst readers.

The books, in order, are:
Maisie Dobbs
Birds of a Feather
Pardonable Lies
Messenger of Truth
An Incomplete Revenge
Among the Mad
The Mapping of Love and Death
A Lesson in Secrets
Elegy for Eddie
Leaving Everything Most Loved (March '13)

For more stops on the tour, visit the official TLC tour page here.

For more on Winspear and her work, check out her official site (linked above). You can also like her on Facebook. Winspear has created an interesting blog devoted to the inspiration behind the Maisie Dobbs series at maisiedobbs.com. I definitely recommend reading as it covers some really fabulous material.