Maisie Dobbs

Maisie Dobbs has just set up her own private investigation firm with the help of her former employer, Lady Rowan, and her mentor, Maurice Blance.  Like many young women during the Great War, Maisie had served as a nurse.  Ten years on after the war, she was setting out on her own.  Her first case is that of investigating a woman whose husband thinks that she is having an affair.  Maisie soon learns that the woman is visiting a grave on those days.  Not long after this she gains the confidence of the woman.

Maisie wants to know why the man buried in the grave was simply known as 'Vincent'.  She learns a bit from the man who takes care of the building that houses her office Billy Beale, but needs more.  She learns that Vincent had spent time on a farm after the war where men injured in the war pooled their resources so that they could live away from those who abhorred their injuries.  However, she is shocked to learn that the son of her former employer wants to go and live there.

One of the things required of those who join the farm is to sign all their possessions over to the founder of the farm.  They will get them back upon leaving the farm.  Maisie is asked to investigate the farm.  She asks Billy to help her in her investigation.  While Billy is doing his part, Maisie and Maurice learn that deaths at the farm all seem to have occurred at 5:00 a. m.  Can the three of them act before any more deaths occur?

Author Jacqueline Winspear's post-Great War murder mystery is well written and engrossing.  The middle third of the novel gives the story of how Maisie Dobbs got to her position as investigator.  This novel is the beginning of a series and I look forward to reading more.