jmills01

I read and reviewed the first book in the Maisie Dobbs series, Birds of a Feather, a few years ago. I gave it three stars, commenting that Maisie was a bit too perfect, and the book had some odd historical inaccuracies.

I've recently become interested in WWI, so I thought I would try another book in the series. I chose this book because it was generally well reviewed, and was supposed to have more of a dark tone. And I suppose it did (there are a few gruesome descriptions, and things are going rather poorly for Maisie's assistant Billy.) But I had, I must say, issues.

My major issue was this: I cannot see that Maisie has changed significantly from the first to the sixth book. She's still entirely too perfect. I don't care for a perfect heroine. I also don't care for static characters. Many mystery writers (PD James is a good example) manage to have their characters evolve between books.

The WWI bits were interesting - I enjoyed reading about the treatment of soldiers after the war. But I must confess that I skimmed the last half. Maisie wasn't holding my interest, and I thought the mystery was weak. Two and a half stars, and I don't think I'll be trying again.