Readers already familiar with Maisie Dobbs will welcome the news that she is back in the fifth Maisie Dobbs novel, Among the Mad.  Not familiar with Maisie Dobbs? Let Among the Mad introduce you to the addictive adventures of this likable heroine—a single woman trying to make a life for herself in the modern world bequeathed to Londoners by World War I.

A battlefield nurse in France during the Great War, the British-born Maisie cared for men severely wounded in both body and mind.  It is now 1931 and, in the years following the war, Maisie has built a business as a private investigator—a most unsuitable occupation for a single woman in the eyes of most Londoners.  Her methods, a seeming blend of Sherlock Holmes and Sigmund Freud, rely on her native intelligence, her determination not to fail, and her seemingly privileged access into the deepest recesses of the human mind and heart.  

Among the Mad finds Maisie working with Scotland Yard and the very highest political figures to prevent a potential threat against London’s population; today we’d describe it as “terrorist.”  Her inquiries lead to a number of dispossessed veterans—without work or resources and teetering on the edges of insanity.  At the same time, a personal mission to rescue the wife of her Cockney assistant takes her beyond the doors of England’s infamous Victorian mental institutions. At the end of the day, it’s Maisie’s willingness to go places and talk to people most others avoid that recommends her story to us. Among the Mad may technically be a mystery, but with Maisie Dobbs, it’s always the detective we care about. 

Liz S.

Among the Mad (Hardcover)

By Jacqueline Winspear

$25.00

ISBN-13: 9780805082166
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Henry Holt and Co., 02/01/2009

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