I think that if the same storylines as are contained in the "Maisie Dobbs" series involved a different protagonist, I would be praising this series to the skies. As it is, I can only with reservations recommend "Pardonable Lies."

Reading about the aftermath of WWI and how it affected its veterans, nurses and civilians even 12 years after the war ended is very interesting and involving. So much fiction has been written about WWII that WWI has become the red-headed stepchild of world wars and it is commendable that the author helps keep the memories of WWI and its veterans alive. Another integral part of the series is the description of the lives of domestic servants and the class structure that to me as a 21st Century American are so foreign. The mysteries Maisie is hired to solve, particularly in novels nos. 2 and 3, are engrosing and keep you (or at least me) guessing to the end.

The thing that almost ruins these books for me is the character of Maisie. I find myself rolling my eyes very often at the way the author portrays Maisie. She is obviously very much in love with her creation, and so is every other character in the book! So often characters (and the third-person narrator) describe Maisie as "brave" or "special" that it becomes a bit heavy handed. Show us, don't tell us! Maisie comes off to me as a know-it-all egotist and is condescending to her employee, father, servants, and anyone else who she feels doesn't have her level of intelligence. Speaking of intelligence, Maisie seems to have an almost supernatural or psychic ability. I don't know if this is how the author intended to portray the character, but in all three books many connections are made by "a tingling feeling in the back of Maisie's neck" (paraphrasing), and then suddenly Maisie makes this great cognitive leap, or looks up and another clue is found! It is just too ham-fisted to be believable.

So you may ask, why have you read three of the books if you have all these criticisms? Well, honestly, I don't know. I guess in spite of all of my complaints, these are good books. And I live in hope that Maisie will continue on her fascinating adventures but that the author will get over her girl-crush on her own creation and give me a sympathetic character I can root for!

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I love Maisie Dobbs. This is a great series with a strong heroine. Also very interesting twists regarding investigative techniques. Different from any other books I have read.

Pardonable Lies in the 3rd entry in the Maisie Dobbs series and again the author creates an atmospheric novel, set in the times between the two world wars.

Maisie Dobbs is an investigator/psychologist who is asked to look into 3 cases, a young girl accused of murdering her stepfather, a man who wishes to know for certain his son died in the Great War and her close friend Priscilla Partridge asks her to locate where her brother Peter died during his time in service. Slowly the three cases become entwined and Maisie must face her own memories of the war. With her life at risk her admiration and friendship with her mentor Maurice Blanche is put to an extreme test and her faith is badly shaken.

Winspear really knows how to evoke an era of class structure, a nation still in recovery from the destruction inflicted by a World War, of people and families destroyed, damaged and haunted by the conflict. The characters, particularly Maisie are so well developed; there are so many shades of gray – nobody is all good or all evil. Some lies are pardonable when there is a no win situation. The writing is very well done and the mysteries are complex and brought to satisfying conclusions. I did have a problem with the solution to the last mystery, it seemed a little “Nancy Drew” like, but that is my sole complaint in a gem of an addition to a wonderful series.

Book three in the Maisie Dobbs series. Post WWI period. Great characters and stories. You will like it!

very good

3rd in the Maisie Dobbs series. Thoughtful and melancholy.

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