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**10th Anniversary Edition with a special Afterword by the author** Maisie Dobbs got her start as a maid in an aristocratic London household when she was thirteen. Her employer, suffragette Lady Rowan Compton, soon became her patron, taking the remarkably bright youngster under her wing. Lady Rowan's friend, Maurice Blanche, often retained as an investigator by the European elite, recognized Maisie’s intuitive gifts and helped her earn admission to the prestigious Girton College in Cambridge, where Maisie planned to complete her education. The outbreak of war changed everything. Maisie trained as a nurse, then left for France to serve at the Front, where she found—and lost—an important part of herself. Ten years after the Armistice, in the spring of 1929, Maisie sets out on her own as a private investigator, one who has learned that coincidences are meaningful, and truth elusive. Her very first case involves suspected infidelity but reveals something very different. In the aftermath of the Great War, a former officer has founded a working farm known as The Retreat, that acts as a convalescent refuge for ex-soldiers too shattered to resume normal life. When Fate brings Maisie a second case involving The Retreat, she must finally confront the ghost that has haunted her for over a decade. ** ### From School Library Journal Adult/High School-Maisie is 14 when her mother dies, and she must go into service to help her father make ends meet. Her prodigious intellect and the fact that she is sneaking into the manor library at night to read Hume, Kierkegaard, and Jung alert Lady Rowan to the fact that she has an unusual maid. She arranges for Maisie to be tutored, and the girl ultimately qualifies for Cambridge. She goes for a year, only to be drawn by the need for nurses during the Great War. After serving a grueling few years in France and falling in love with a young doctor, Maisie puts up a shingle in 1929 as a private investigator. She is a perceptive observer of human nature, works well with all classes, and understands the motivations and demons prevalent in postwar England. Teens will be drawn in by her first big case, seemingly a simple one of infidelity, but leading to a complex examination of an almost cultlike situation. The impact of the war on the country is vividly conveyed. A strong protagonist and a lively sense of time and place carry readers along, and the details lead to further thought and understanding about the futility and horror of war, as well as a desire to hear more of Maisie. This is the beginning of a series, and a propitious one at that. *Susan H. Woodcock, Fairfax County Public Library, Chantilly, VA* Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. ### Review **Praise for *Maisie Dobbs*** **A *New York Times* Notable Book of the Year Agatha Award Winner for Best First Novel Macavity Award Winner for Best First Novel Alex Award Winner** “Compelling…powerful. [Maisie Dobbs] testifies to the enduring allure of the traditional mystery…even though I knew what was coming this second time 'round, its final scene is still a punch in the gut.” ** —Maureen Corrigan for NPR’s Fresh Air, speaking on the 10th Anniversary edition of *Maisie Dobbs*** "[A] deft debut novel . . . Romantic readers sensing a story-within-a-story won't be disappointed. But first they must be prepared to be astonished at the sensitivity and wisdom with which Maisie resolves her first professional assignment." **—*The New York Times*** "The reader familiar with Alexander McCall Smith's *The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency* . . . might think of Maisie Dobbs as its British counterpart . . . [Winspear] has created a winning character about whom readers will want to read more." **—*The Associated Press*** "[Maisie Dobbs] catches the sorrow of a lost generation in the character of one exceptional woman." **—*Chicago Tribune ***“A fine new sleuth for the twenty-first century. Simultaneously self-reliant and vulnerable, Maisie isn't a character I'll easily forget.” **—Elizabeth George, #1 *New York Times* Bestselling author of the Inspector Lynley series** “The book is much more than a cosy mystery—it is also about women's growing emancipation and the profound changes to society after the First World War.” **—*Mail on Sunday*** “A delightful mix of mystery, war story and romance set in WWI–era England . . . A refreshing heroine, appealing secondary characters and an absorbing plot [make Winspear a] writer to watch.” **—*Publishers Weekly*, Starred Review** “A poignant and compelling story . . . [Winspear handles] human drama with compassionate sensitivity while skillfully avoiding cloying sentimentality. At the end, the reader is left yearning for more. Highly recommended.” **—*Library Journal*, Starred Review* * * *