I absolutely love the Maisie Dobbs series, and the latest, Journey to Munich, that I listened to (the reader, Orlagh Cassidy, is superb) takes Maisie to Nazi Germany in 1938 on the eve of WWII, working undercover for the British government.
Maisie has grown and changed and experienced so much of life since the series began, but at her core she is someone I can relate to and admire and sympathize with. Despite her changing fortunes, she keeps her feet on the ground and tries to do what she thinks is right.
I always love her encounters with Robbie MacFarlane, and he was, of course, one of the movers and shakers getting her to take the assignment in the first place and I can't help feeling that he holds a torch for Maisie, despite the big brother role he tends to take with her. The story has a bit of Sandra and Billy, a bit of Priscilla Partridge, a bit of Frankie and Brenda, but it's mostly Maisie on her own, solving a case and putting to rest another set of personal demons.
I really loved the story line involving society girl, Elaine Otterburn, whom Maisie meets up with in Munich. The theme of this novel is really "people are not what they seem." Perfect for a plot line involving undercover work.
Maisie's visit to Dachau, which I actually visited about 30 years ago, was fascinating, as was her observations of the tensions that gripped Munich and Germany on the eve of the coming war. I think historical novels are a wonderful way to get inside a time period, if the author has done her homework and the history is solid.
I have only one more book in the series, In This Grave Hour, before I am caught up with author Jacqueline Winspear--I do hope she's working on #14. I know that she will have plenty of plot possibilities as WWII progresses.
This is my first mystery in the R.I.P. Challenge! #RIPXII
