Historical Mysteries

Maisie, for the uninitiated (and if you haven't yet read the first book in the series, you really should start with that one) was a nurse on the front during WWI. The horrors of that war were many, but one of its most brutal aspects was the wiping out of practically an entire generation of young men. Maisie herself has not been unscathed; her fiancee, Simon, while still alive, has been so badly injured that he is merely a shell of himself who no longer speaks or walks. Her best friend, Priscilla, lost all her brothers and has made up for it by having a houseful of boys; but in many ways these are books that deal largely with grief, maybe even more so than a typical mystery does. It infuses everything, and Maisie's efforts to rise above her grief and move forward with grace make her an almost heroic figure.

In this book Maisie is asked by her old friend James Compton to investigate a disturbing series of small fires and petty thefts surrounding a brickworks his company wants to buy. He wants to make sure that both the brickworks and the surrounding community are a safe investment. The job seems minor on the surface, but of course it is not. As Maisie journeys into the heart of Kent to investigate she susses out the town of Heronsdene that at midsummer is filled both with gypsies and Londoners on a working vacation, picking hops, one of whom is her assistant, Billy Beale. Both the gypsies and the itinerant Londoners add a rich and unusual texture to the story, and of course as the plot develops in complexity, the threads that tie the mysteries in Heronsdene are drawn together with both the stories of the gypsies and the Londoners. I think the plot of this book is the most complicated and ultimately satisfying one so far, though the resolution is heartbreaking.

Also dealt with in this book is the impending death of Simon and her friend Priscilla's dilemma about what she should do about her boys' misery at their boarding school, where they are being bullied. At the center of the story are two characters, one strong - Beaulah, the gypsy matriarch; and one weak - Alfred Sandemere, master of Heronsdene, owner of the brickworks, and a man heartily disliked by all. As Maisie winds up the threads of the story in this book she must also deal with Simon's death, which seems to take her to another level. She has changed since the first book - become more independent and strong, and with the death of Simon she seems like a clean slate. It will be interesting to see where Winspear takes both this development with Maisie, and the looming of the next world war, which is already being foreshadowed. This is a bravura effort from a writer who manages to charm and intrigue with each new novel; in this one, she also captures your heart.