Leaving Everything Most Loved:

(Maisie Dobbs #10)

Jacqueline WINSPEAR

352 pages

Publication date : March 19th, 2013 by HarperCollins

Ebook received from HarperCollins
via Edelweiss

This book counts for the following Reading Challenges:

MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS BOOK

I have so many times stumbled upon Jacqueline Winspear’s name! Which book blogger has not? She is a very renowned writer, with numerous awards. After Mrs. Pollifax and Aimée Leduc, I wanted finally to meet Maisie Dobbs and to love her in Leaving Everything Most Loved.

I’m going against the flow here, according the Goodreads ratings at least, though reader Mary writes, “I have liked the Maisie Dobbs novels, but this one left me cold.” I liked the beginning of the book, the setting for the main plot, the way the life of Indian immigrants was described. But then, it got muddled for me, with too many layers, and especially Maisie Dobbs’s inner conflicts and questions about the future taking really too much room. Plus I was actually able rather quickly to figure out who the murderer was, which means the plot(s) was/were not that sharp!!

I also think there were unnecessary information, like a rather long passage near the end of the novel, where the author felt the need to integrate a list of cases encountered by Maisie in the previous novels of the series.

I do recognize starting by number 10 in a series is definitely not the smartest way of approaching a series, but still, even if I had read all the previous 9 before, I don’t think that would have made this one really more exciting. I also understand that this book is key, as Maisie is preparing to launch into a new life, at least for a while it seems, but I maintain that there were too many passages about debating on the options opened to her. This did not really connect too well with the plot, even though Winspear tried really hard, too hard actually, to make me believe it did.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT

In Leaving Everything Most Loved by New York Times bestselling author Jacqueline Winspear, Maisie Dobbs investigates the murder of Indian immigrants in London. The year is 1933. Maisie Dobbs is contacted by an Indian gentleman who has come to England in the hopes of finding out who killed his sister two months ago. Scotland Yard failed to make any arrest in the case, and there is reason to believe they failed to conduct a thorough investigation. The case becomes even more challenging when another Indian woman is murdered just hours before a scheduled interview. Meanwhile, unfinished business from a previous case becomes a distraction, as does a new development in Maisie’s personal life. Bringing a crucial chapter in the life and times of Maisie Dobbs to a close, Leaving Everything Most Loved marks a pivotal moment in this outstanding mystery series. [Goodreads]

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jacqueline Winspear was born and raised in the county of Kent, England. Following higher education at the University of London’s Institute of Education, Jacqueline worked in academic publishing, in higher education and in marketing communications in the UK.
She emigrated to the United States in 1990, and while working in business and as a personal / professional coach, Jacqueline embarked upon a life-long dream to be a writer.
A regular contributor to journals covering international education, Jacqueline has published articles in women’s magazines and has also recorded her essays for KQED radio in San Francisco. She currently divides her time between Ojai and the San Francisco Bay Area and is a regular visitor to the United Kingdom and Europe.
Jacqueline is the author of the New York Times bestsellers A Lesson in Secrets, The Mapping of Love and Death, Among the Mad, and An Incomplete Revenge, and other nationally bestselling Maisie Dobbs novels. She has won numerous awards for her work, including the Agatha, Alex, and Macavity awards for the first book in the series, Maisie Dobbs, which was also nominated for the Edgar Award for best novel and was a New York Times Notable Book.

***

HAVE YOU READ THIS BOOK YET?
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE
NOVEL BY THIS AUTHOR?
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS IN A COMMENT PLEASE