The series is incredibly consistent in that in each installment, Maisie's character grows and deepens. We are still exploring the aftermath of WW1, and this time the case has a North American angle. There is also a surprising development in Maisie's personal life, she experiences new sorrow, and has to face an uncertain future - but one that looks to take her to new adventures of great import given the looming conflicts to come. ( )

I was looking for another fun, easy book and remembered that I used to really enjoy the Maisie Dobbs mystery series, set in the aftermath of WWI. For some reason, I fell out of the habit of reading these, and I decided to give it another try.

This seventh mystery in the series is about an American cartographer who volunteers with the British in the beginning of WWI. He is killed and decades later his family comes upon some evidence of a relationship he had during the war that they want to investigate. They turn to Maisie to carry this out.

I really enjoyed this and I think I'll slowly continue on with the series. ( )

An American cartographer killed during WWI leaves a mystery in his wake. Maisie is on the case, but is also dealing with the declining health of her mentor, Maurice Blanche, and the beginnings of a relationship with James Compton. This book holds major turning points in Maisie’s personal life and the delicate balance of grief and new love is beautifully handled. Maisie’s subtle observations and clever mind never disappoints.

“In silence, with body and mind still, a depth of understanding may be achieved that is not available to one who languishes at the mercy of life’s relentless chatter.” ( )

The Mapping of Love and Death written by Jacqueline Winspear is a Maisie Dobbs Mystery, Book #7, published in 2010.
“August 1914. When war in Europe is declared, a young Americancartographer, Michael Clifton, is compelled to fight for his father’s native country and sets sail for England to serve in the British Army as a cartographer. 3 years later he is listed as ‘missing in action’.

Descriptors used to describe this series of books about female psychologist and private investigator, Maisie Dobbs, in London in the years following the ‘Great War’ include…..
Historical Fiction - War Stories - Crime Fiction - Mystery and Detective Fiction - Private Investigators - Women Sleuths - City Life - World War I - Cartography - psychology - Grief

These books are very intriguing, interesting, and historically and culturally accurate. They are also very emotional (for me) and very engaging.
Brilliant writing. ***** ( )

When the body of an American cartographer is unearthed by a farmer in France, the man’s parents ask Maisie Dobbs to go through the papers accompanying the body and, if possible, find the young lady with whom their son had apparently been in love almost 20 years before. Maisie’s search uncovers far more than she expected, and the information she develops places both the man’s parents and Maisie herself in mortal danger…. This is the seventh Maisie Dobbs story, and one of the most poignant: aside from the mystery itself, Maisie finds both love and death in her personal life, and some huge changes in her circumstances. I have been enjoying these books, particularly with respect to how each character feels like a fully developed person complete with all the complex emotions each human being harbours; in that regard, this one may be my favourite so far. Recommended! ( )