Among the Mad: A Maisie Dobbs Novel

In the world that Maisie Dobbs ("Psychologist and Investigator") inhabits, peace is an elusive phenomenon, even 13 years after the Armistice put an end to the trench warfare that she witnessed as a nurse. In the aftermath of the Great War, Maisie now finds herself battling with the legacy of that conflict. In Winspear's five previous novels, she has dealt with the aftermath of mysterious wartime Zeppelin attacks, evil doings at a hospital for disfigured soldiers and myriad other crimes tied to the aftermath of the war.In this, Winspear's sixth novel in the series, Maisie is unwittingly dragged into a case that involves terrorist threats. After witnessing a man she believes to be a troubled veteran blow himself up with a hand grenade, her name is mentioned in a threatening letter that another soldier sends to Scotland Yard and top government ministers. Along with her former admirer, Inspector Stratton, Maisie must work with Special Branch police to fend off a chemical weapons threat from a disturbed individual demanding that the government treat veterans -- disabled or otherwise -- fairly and honorably. It's a difficult case for Maisie, not only because she must grapple with her own mixed emotions -- she has seen, all too clearly, the struggle that the men she once nursed in France have when they try to return civilian life -- but because she is also grappling with the personal problems of her assistant, Billy Beale, and her closest friend.Not surprisingly, perhaps, given this somber backdrop, the novel often feels very intense and even downright melancholy. That's appropriate, given the subject matter. Still, this would have been a stronger book had Winspear had a lighter touch with both plot and characters. (I have read serial killer novels that felt less dark and depressing.) Still, Winspear's writing is exceptionally strong and powerful, doing justice to the themes she chooses to explore. She also avoids the easy plot twists; Maisie, a complex character who has risen to her current status from life as a servant, has yet to find romance in her postwar life.I am beginning to wonder, however, how long a series with such a narrow focus can endure. Shell shock and the trauma of rebuilding a life after a war is not a theme that offers enough that is new and fresh to remain the core of Maisie's investigations and Winspear's writing for many more books. Yes, it's unquestionably important, but at some point the reader is going to start to shrug his or her shoulders, saying that they've heard it all before. Moreover, as 1932 dawns in Maisie's fictional world, other factors are now emerging as important. There is a global depression taking hold, the Blackshirts are marching in London (a fact that gets one short, cryptic reference in this book) and within a year, Hitler will take power in Germany. I, for one, hope that Winspear finds a way to blend her fascination with the Great War with a more diverse array of mysteries for Maisie to investigate and plots that depend as much upon what is happening contemporaneously as what happened more than a decade previously. Continuing to revisit the same territory without some new element will, I fear, cause some of her readers, myself among them, will begin to fall by the wayside.For those who have not yet stumbled across Rennie Airth, I'd recommend two other mysteries set in the same time period:  The Blood-Dimmed Tide (Penguin Mysteries) and  River of Darkness . I was elated to discover this superb author has a third book coming out this summer. While I'll give Winspear's latest four stars, either of Airth's books -- which deal with similar issues -- easily capture a fifth star. Charles Todd's longer series features a Scotland Yard detective grappling with shell shock, but who investigates a wide array of crimes, some of which have no connection to the war itself. Increasingly, I am coming to prefer that series to Winspear's books, simply because of the variety of themes the books explore.

Maisie gets involved in a case of life and death, and I found myself wanting to read on and on and yet also not wanting it to end. I hope the rest of this series has such a good story.

It's Christmas Eve 1931 in Maisie Dobbs' world, more than ten years past the end of the Great War that was to "end all wars."The war goes on though for so many of those who participated in it. Millions of men and women who were grievously wounded either physically or psychologically - or both - continue to struggle with their wounds and with trying to make a place for themselves in the world. Maisie Dobbs' work as a psychologist and investigator often seems to bring her into contact with these desperate people and that is the case once again in Among the Mad.It begins with Maisie walking down a London street with her assistant Billy Beale, on their way to meet with a client. Suddenly, Maisie gets one of her premonitions. She orders her assistant to go back as she walks forward toward a disabled man sitting on the street. He has one missing leg and the other injured and Maisie feels the distress coming from him. As she approaches him with her arm outstretched, he detonates a hand grenade, blowing himself up and injuring some of those on the street. Luckily, Maisie is not seriously injured but she is deeply affected by the event.The next day the prime minister's office receives a letter threatening a massive loss of life if the writer's demands are not met. Curiously, the letter mentions Maisie's name which leads her to be investigated by Scotland Yard's elite Special Branch. She is cleared and then seconded to the Special Branch as a part of the team investigating the letter and trying to prevent a terrorist attack on the city.While Maisie is involved in this case, she is also trying to help Billy, whose wife has descended fully into the abyss of melancholia following the death of their small daughter several months before. She is finally deemed to be a danger to herself or her two living children and she is committed to an institution for the care of the mentally disturbed, but this particular institution turns out to be a chamber of horrors and Maisie and Billy work to get her moved to a more humane facility.Meanwhile, an incident at a veterinary facility results in the death of several dogs from some sort of chemical attack and this is followed by the killing of a number of birds by, apparently, the same means. Further letters received at Special Branch warn that the next victims will be human. And, indeed, a young government official is then killed. The letter writer warns that the next event will be a mass killing.Maisie and the rest of the team race to find the writer of the letters and to stop him before he can accomplish that killing. They each follow different leads and Maisie investigates those who have been involved in research into chemical warfare. Her inquiry leads her into the world of shell-shocked men, a world of the darkness that she first encountered as a nurse during the war.Jacqueline Winspear once again explores the theme that she has adopted as her main topic in this series, which is that of the treatment of those who fight a country's wars when they return home, often battered and damaged, from those wars. It was an issue after the First World War and every war since and it is still an issue today. We can read it in the headlines of any of today's newspapers. Winspear, through her character Maisie Dobbs, is an advocate for the humane treatment of such victims of man's inhumanity. These novels seem very timely in that regard and they give us pause to think about how far our treatment of shell-shock - now called PTSD - has come in a hundred years. Or not.

I like stories from England taking place just before or during WWII

Three and a half stars.Maisie and Billy are innocent bystanders when a WW1 veteran explodes a bomb in London. Then an anonymous letter is sent to senior cabinet members, mentioning Maisie's name, threatening terrible consequences if the government doesn't announce wide reaching plans to support ex-servicemen. When the government fails to respond by the deadline the terrorist starts escalating matters and it becomes clear that he has the knowledge and skills to create poison gases which could kill half of London.Maisie is brought in by Special Branch to give her unorthodox assistance to catch this man before he can carry out his threat. Her analysis of the handwriting, writing style, and appearance of the paper leads her to believe that he may have been injured in the war, and perhaps have sought or received psychiatric treatment.It's a race against time which will lead Maisie to secret government poison gas laboratories and uncovering some nasty secrets about war.This was good, but all the descriptions of horrible deaths due to poison gas make pretty grim reading.Also, in light of also having read the next book in this series, I get the feeling that the author was under pressure to give Maisie a love interest as there are several interested gentlemen in this book.

I am re-reading the "Maisie" books from No. ONE. I found this one to be the best so far. The characters are now ell established, and Maisie is well settled as a Private detective, with friends in high (and lower) places. The plot is intricate and a page turner, but as with most book reviewers, you often find said reviewer is biased one way or the other. I love Maisie and am going to keep on - next book 7!

This is the 2nd Massie Dobbs novel I have read. This was more difficult a read than my previous book of Jacqueline Spears but I also think this is an earlier one in the series.Whilst the characters are fictional so much of the story detail is accurate. It has prompted me to want to look at a London map of that eta, as whilst a born and bred Londoner many locations are well known to me, there are a couple of things I would like to verify. It is a fact that following the 1st world war our government enlisted scientists to work on chemical warfare and it is also true the plight of those who fought so bravely. I will be reading more in this series.

Set between the wars, at a time when unemployment was rife, Maisie Dobbs has set herself up as a private investigator offering a very discrete service. With her assistant, Billy, and a few good contacts, she becomes involved in trying to track down someone who poses a considerable threat to the nation. Masie has also begun to recognize that all work and no play makes for a very dull time.

I am loving Maisie Dodds and the way the books focus on the long lasting effects of war. I remember many people affected by those events and this series is helping me to understand those people, who shaped my childhood, so much better. This is not the best book in the series, but still a good read.