A Lesson in Secrets: A Maisie Dobbs Novel

The Maisie Dobbs series thoroughly engaged me on every level. They are so well researched that I learned history, human nature and philosophy while enjoying the original plots and carefully written stories. There's tension between the characters that is common to all relationships and yet revealing solutions that can be carried over into the life of the reader. I highly recommend this series to readers who want stories that inspire and are touching without being maudlin.

Based on many reviews I read before reading this book, I was prepared to dislike it as slow and tedious and not really a mystery. Upon reading it, however, I ended up thinking it's a strong entry in the Maisie Dobbs series, except for the lack of dramatic tension and rising action (a problem with almost all the books in the series)In this book, Maisie is asked by the British Secret Service to take a job as a philosophy professor at a "peace" college in Cambridge. She is to report anything "suspicious." The Secret Service is actually looking for communist affiliations among the international student body at the College of St. Francis. Maisie, however, feels that what's suspicious at St. Francis is the rise of fascism, which the Secret Service pretty much disregards. Maisie is there only a day or two when Greville Liddicote, founder of St. Francis, is murdered in his office. The main thread of A Lesson in Secrets, then, is Maisie's search for the murderer. Her search is successful and the resolution is satisfying, although the way that Maisie comes upon the final clue is by accident, and that isn't satisfying.In addition to the main mystery, there are subplots. Did Greville Liddicote really write the children's book that the government banned during World War I? Or did he steal it from another author? And what about Maisie's former roommate Sandra, whose husband Eric died in an accident -- was it really an accident, or was it murder? Will Sandra uncover evidence of murder, or die trying? Then there's Billy Beale and his wife and family: will they agree to accept the new house that Maisie wants to rent to them? Last of all, there's Maisie's love interest, James Compton, who appears to be writing her letters from Canada . . . but the letters look as if they were mailed from London.Winspear successfully weaves all the subplots and the main plot together, though much of the weaving consists of Maisie driving her car back and forth to London, and this strikes the reader as repetitive and unimaginative. Finally, there is, as I stated earlier, the question of dramatic tension: it simply doesn't exist in this book. The reasons to like this book are the political history woven into the 1932 setting, the characters of Maisie and her friends, and the solution. These are, I suspect, the reasons that most people read the Maisie Dobbs books.

I have read all of the Maisie Dobbs books at present, thanks to a blogging read-along. I had great fun discovering Maisie and actually read A Lesson in Secrets when it was first published in 2011. I enjoy these Maisie books so much and one of the many reasons is because I love historical fiction, love to learn about such trivia as the products the characters use, and love to research whatever subject I find interesting in the books, be it art history, geography, or the politics of the time.A Lesson in Secrets begins with Maisie being followed from Kent back to London as she drives her "crimson MG 14/40." The car following her was a "black Armstrong Siddeley." Well, there you go! I had to stop and look up these autos and find out more about them. Now I know some readers could care less about these details, but learning about things like these cars just enhances the story for me. And Ms. Winspear's novels are filled with interesting and eclectic tidbits from the early-to-mid 20th century about England and the times.Maisie is called to help the British Secret Service in this particular novel, but gets to do so while posing as a professor in academia, exactly something Maisie would enjoy, as would I. You see, I think I enjoy and can relate to these novels because I can relate to Maisie's interests, her independence, and her stubbornness. I know I would enjoy her private detective work (way more than her psychologist work). I worry that I am too independent at times (as does Maisie). And, of course, I can relate to her inability to step back and analyze her own life instead of trying to please and fix everyone else's (to a degree).Maisie's undercover work in Cambridge leads her to have to solve the murder of a controversial character. I was reminded of one of my favorite children's book authors, Munro Leaf (The Story of Ferdinand), and was also reminded of Dr. Seuss, or Theodore Geisel, whose books reflected some of his political positions. World War II is seen as a "good war" since it was waged against someone as demented and despicable as Hitler, so the pacifist position in the buildup to this war could not have been popular. This pacifist position some held, as well as the popularity of the Nazi buildup, are two interesting subjects brought forth in A Lesson in Secrets.If you have not yet read A Lesson in Secrets, I hope you are intrigued and can't wait to read it soon. If you have already read the novel, I hope you have enjoyed revisiting the eighth Maisie book.

Maisie Dobbs stories are interesting on several levels and not all story lines are as straight-forward as they seem to be. Maisie has been trained in psychology and philosophy of multiple cultural influences, which adds interesting layers to the story.I find the descriptions of the impact of WWI on families and society interesting. I knew a bit of the history, but not how deeply life was changed in reality. In spite of that, many were trying to hold on to a way of life that no longer existed. I better understand what led to WWII.Then the most interesting aspect. How past is prelude to the future....yet do we ever learn?"...Imagine so many dispossessed people following blindly, with misguided hope in their hearts.”

Ms Winspear writes a great story again, as is the case of the previous 7 books. I would recommend the entire series to anyone who wants leisure reading with a good post war perspective in the England of the 1930's. It is in a humanistic tradition and grabs my attention from the get go. I will be sorry to finish this series and hope she comes out with a new one soon.

I really wanted to like this series, but at Book 8 - A Lesson In Secrets - I gave up. I've read every Agatha Christie novel, every Miss Fisher's Detective Series, and a lot of Josephine Tey. I watch Poirot and Miss Fisher and Foyle's War, etc. I loove the genre, particularly when it covers Europe 1920s-1940s. So when I came across Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series, I was super excited.But the first few books made me wonder if the stakes were ever going to be raised on Maisie, or if every book would end kind of like, "...well, so what?" The review of these books as "less who-dunnit and more why-dunnit" is apt, but when you have a mystery series based on psychology, where the twists and turns are not the evidence/mistake/reveal, but more "now I understand why...", you better make it outrageously interesting. And Winspear does not.(As an example, I think Miss Marple (Agatha Christie) is a character who relies entirely on psychology, and the twists and motives are fascinating - so it's not like it hasn't been successful in the past!)Part of this is because I think the Maisie character herself is not very interesting. Despite her "rags to riches" background and training by her ingenious mentor Maurice, despite her experience as a nurse in the war, she remains a very straight-laced, basic character. Yes, she's smart. I appreciate that! We need smart women characters at the head of their own households... But honestly, Maisie is just kind of boring. She's too kind, too well-intentioned, and her "dark past" in the war is more about the suffering she experienced and witnessed, which makes her even more kind, more understanding... You get the picture.I guess it's not fair to compare this series to Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. Because Maisie is no Miss Fisher - the nuances of righteous justice, sexuality, women's lib, and just plain adventurous fun are missing from Maisie Dobbs' books. Maisie is too sincere, if that makes sense. She's like the girl you went to school with who was so nice you never knew how to be her friend, because if you made a joke, it might break her.But if you're not asking for that all of that, then here's another reason why I had a hard time with this book (no spoilers):In "A Lesson In Secrets", Maisie narrows down the murder suspects about halfway through the book. So you have about 2-3 possible murderers that you're milling over in your mind. When the final reveal takes place, you're not really surprised, simply because you've been given a list of suspects and that doesn't change. The revealed motive is lackluster, too.Another plot-line is that Maisie is sent by the secret service to a university to try and find anyone who might be engaging in activity "against the interests of the Crown." Ok - cool! Spy stuff! I can get into this. But Maisie reports from the very beginning that there's a group of British Nazi sympathizers. The secret service's response? "We're not too worried about them." So the rest of novel, Maisie is trying to prove the secret service that they should be worried.These are the two major plots of the book, the first reveal totally anticlimactic, and the second reveal ("oh hey, maybe these Nazis are bad!") is just way too obvious.There's little satisfaction in a murder mystery where you know the main character is right from the beginning, and she just has to convince everyone else to come around to her side.This review sounds super negative, but I don't hate this series. It's just ok. Like I said, I gave it 8 books, and I just don't find them interesting. I hope my criticisms will be helpful to those who like Miss Fisher, Poirot, Marple, and other amazing 20th century sleuths. If you haven't read them yet, go there first. In my opinion, you'll get a better education in masterful mystery writing, and learn to expect more from your detectives!Sorry Maisie, I wish it wasn't like this :/

Maisie Dobbs has an undercover assignment for the British secret service: but she is more then the title of this book. All nine of Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs are worth reading. Why? Maisie Dobbs worked herself out of "service" to become an investigator/phychologist, and perhaps a little psychic. The background is set just after the historic World War one. All war facts are true, alas,not Maisie. Cockney stang used through out her books are:"Bob's yer uncle; young scrubber; nippers; dekko; weakness is provocative; cup of the old char; artful dodger; codswallop; punts; Burn's night; a cupppa;time and tide waits for no man or woman, come to that; and my favorite, the old dog and bone." Maise uses the Queen's english, thank goodness. Imagine a world with no cell phones,little or no paper to use, motor cars that are in the way of the horse carriages, people living in the workhouses, little or no food or money to buy anything but enough pride to "keep calm and carry on". This is Maise's world, but yet people come to her to "investigate". Characters so written that there become also like family. You laugh or cry, when something happens to them, and indeed it happens. It's a taste of a world that has long been forgotten. A world of what really happens after a war, to it's people. But, Maisie does have issues of her own, and you suffer right along with her. But remember this is a mystery book after all. Her assignment is to help the secret service,or is it? I so enjoyed this book, that now I am reading more about WW1. Start with the first one, make up your mind before going to the rest, you will not resist not knowing Maisie and her world

We first met Maisie Dobbs in the Spring of '29. Now it's the Summer of '32 and Nazi sympathizers are starting to come out of the woodwork in Britain. Maisie finds herself doing some top-secret undercover work for Special Branch as a philosophy teacher at a college dedicated to pacifism. There's a murder. Maisie's old friend Sandra from Ebury St. becomes a widow under circumstance that also suggest murder. A smudged postmark suggests James has not been leveling with Maisie about his whereabouts. The Beales are on the move. Frankie takes a back seat in this one--perhaps because he's too busy courting. Stratton's clearly unhappy with his new job and new boss. Plagiarism enters the picture as a major plot point. And a new character, Margaret Rose, gets added to the cast. Never a dull moment, as usual...And, as always, Jacqueline Winspear delivers another great read in this, the 8th in her Maisie Dobbs series. Because it's so strong on character development and relationships, this is a series that really should be read in order. Here's the list: 1. "Maisie Dobbs," 2. "Birds of a Feather," 3. "Pardonable Lies," 4. "Messenger of Truth," 5. "An Incomplete Revenge," 6. "Among the Mad," 7. The Mapping of Love and Death," 8. "A Lesson in Secrets," 9. "Elegy for Eddie. 10. "Leaving Everything Most Loved" (coming 3/13)

Une grande partie aurait pu être supprimée avant publication car agaçant, n’apportant rien au déroulement de l’enquête. Une écriture féminine accordant de l’intérêt aux tenues vestimentaires en détail en omettant l’élément de suspense nécessaire à l’intrigue.

This is a series which I have been enjoying reading. The main character, Maisie Dobbs, is a thoughtful and insightful person.

I have been reading these almost one after the other and I struggle to put them down. Maisie is a fantastic character and I find her view of the world entirely engaging. I can’t wait to read all the rest

Mi piacciono i libri della Winspear, ben scritti. Maisie è un bel personaggio, gradevole da seguire.Raccomando tutti i libri della serie

I tried again and again to read this book. The plot sounds very interesting, it had such promise!! But then I could not get past the first 100 pages, and those took me two weeks (otherwise, they might take me 1-2 days). The characters seem fuzzy, like there is no real essence to them - basically, they are not fully developed. The storyline is lagging and lagging. The dialogue is stilted. Having tried so often, I finally wondered why I should waste my precious reading time on something I don't enjoy, so I stopped.