3/27/08

Between the Covers

Detective uses intuition to solve mysteries

by Mary Burns

An Incomplete Revenge

By Jacqueline Winspear

($24, Henry Holt)

In early 1931, energetic private investigator Maisie Dobbs travels to a village outside London to investigate a series of fires and petty thefts for a client interested in buying a brickworks there. It’s hop-picking time, and pickers include whole families from the city, along with a caravan of Gypsies, all camping near the fields.

This is the fifth book in a series. Maisie Dobbs was introduced to us in the first book bearing her name after she returned from her work as a nurse in the Great War and began her detective work. She is determined to resolve not only that for which she is hired, but all issues unearthed during her investigations. 

The scenes in these pages are beautifully scripted, surrounding the reader with the scents and sounds of the countryside. We hear the haunting tones of the violin at the campfire as Maisie shares her observation that fortune-telling capabilities might be due to simpler ways and an inclination to pay attention to thoughts and feelings. We realize these are her own methods for cutting through the “layers of truth and web of lies” in this compelling book.

 

Mary Burns is the owner of The BookWORKS, in Downtown Marysville or at www.marysvillebookworks.com.