"Maisie Dobbs will take on a case which will lead to a new love."
Reviewed by Leanne Davis
Posted February 25, 2011
Mystery Woman Sleuth
Maisie is asked to investigate the case of a young American
who died in France. He was a cartographer who went missing.
His body, and those of the men in his unit, were discovered
recently. His family is eager to find out what happened. As
the youngest in a wealthy family, he was cherished by his
parents. He was doing some mapping in California when the
war broke out. Instead of returning home, he immediately
set off to England to enlist. The maps he was creating were invaluable to the English army
as they fought the German army. At the same time as Maisie
and her right hand man, Billy, look into Michael Clifton's
death, Billy's wife has returned from the hospital she went
to after her breakdown. Maisie contacts her former employers and runs into their
son, Stephen. Stephen provides invaluable help to Maisie's
investigation. One of many who suffered during the war,
Stephen went to Canada to work in his family business. He
has returned a much different man who wants nothing but
peace. Maisie approaches her mentor for confirmation of her fears
about the cause of Micheal's death. Maisie is shocked to
learn that Maurice is severely ill. Even with her sorrow
for Maurice weighing on her, Maisie continues the
investigation into Michael's murder. Unexpectedly, she finds
herself falling in love. The Maisie Dobbs mysteries deal with some difficult and
painful topics. Placed at the end of the Great War, Maisie
deals with the trauma of the war and the indignities of her
chosen profession with a stoicism and dignity that will
charm the reader. As a follower of the series, it is nice
to see Maisie emerge from her melancholy to find love again. Masterfully plotted and placed against a time in English
history when the structure of society was undergoing a
radical change, the Dobbs mysteries will keep the reader
coming back for more.
SUMMARY
In the latest mystery in the New York Times bestselling
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. Michael - the youngest son of
an expatriate Englishman - puts duty first and sails for
his father's native country to serve in the British army.
Three years later, he is listed among those missing in
action. April 1932. London psychologist and investigator Maisie
Dobbs is retained by Michael's parents, who have recently
learned that their son's remains have been unearthed in
France. They want Maisie to find the unnamed nurse whose
love letters were among Michael's belongings - a quest
that takes Maisie back to her own bittersweet wartime
love. Her inquiries, and the stunning discovery that
Michael Clifton was murdered in his trench, unleash a web
of intrigue and violence that threatens to engulf the
soldier's family and even Maisie herself. Over the course
of her investigation, Maisie must cope with the
approaching loss of her mentor, Maurice Blanche, and her
growing awareness that she is once again falling in love. Following the critically acclaimed bestseller Among the
Mad, The Mapping of Love and Death delivers the most
gripping and satisfying chapter yet in the life of Maisie
Dobbs.
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