By Jacqueline Winspear
Winspear Does It Again...
Once again Maisie Dobbs, Private Investigator in London, finds herself working on a complex case involving a death during The Great War. Of course this death doesn't come to light until 16 years later. The dead man was an American cartographer on the front lines during the war until he was reported missing in 1916, enduring all of the hardships and dangers of that time. As a young nurse working in field hospitals, Maisie learned first hand that war is hell, leaving men injured, maimed and dead on the muddy bomb-shelled fields of France.
The young man's remains are found in 1932 in an abandoned dugout, and Maisie discovers that he was murdered. Following a trail of letters written to a nurse he met when on leave in France, strange orders and harassment from his superiors, and family complications, Maisie must work her way to a solution that works for his American family, the English girl with whom he corresponded, and her own satisfaction that she has found the best solution for all concerned.
With The Mapping of Love and Death: A Maisie Dobbs Novel, as in the stream of Maisie Dobbs books, Winspear draws you in and takes you side by side with her through every facet of the story...she never disappoints!
Product Review from Amazon:
August 1914: California's Santa Ynez Valley. Michael Clifton, a 23-year-old Bostonian, is entranced by the beauty of the land he has purchased and is confident that oil lies beneath its surface. But Michael is the youngest son of an Englishman, and when war is declared in Europe, he feels the pull of the old country and sails for England to enlist as a cartographer. By 1917, Michael is listed among the missing.
April 1932: London Psychologist and Investigator Maisie Dobbs is retained by Edward and Martha Clifton, who have recently sailed from America upon receiving news that Michael's remains have been discovered in France. They want Maisie to find the unnamed nurse whose love letters were discovered among Michael's belongings. So begins a quest that takes Maisie back to her own bittersweet, wartime love.
Maisie's inquiries, and the discovery that Michael Clifton was murdered in his trench, unleash a web of intrigue and violence that threatens to engulf Michael's family, surviving comrades, and Maisie. While investigating both the love affair and the murder, Maisie must cope with the approaching loss of her mentor, Maurice Blanche, and her growing awareness that she, herself, is falling in love.
