User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
Jacqueline Winspear manages to keep writing interesting stories and appealing characters even after fifteen books. This is my favourite of the series so far.
She can always be counted on to provide a sound, factual, historical back ground. The American Agent is set during the London Blitz of 1940/41 and the atmosphere of fear and bravery combined is perfectly presented. Maisie is driving ambulances in the streets of London, retrieving the injured, as bombs fall all around.
Of course in wartime there are many deaths but Maisie comes across one that she believes is murder and she very quickly begins an investigation. Her work brings her back in touch with the American agent of the title who has appeared in an earlier book. Is this the start of a new relationship?
So there is an intriguing mystery set against the backdrop of London and Kent with the citizens either busy trying to maintain everyday life or hiding from the bombs which are falling nearly every night. All very well written and making an excellent read. Highly recommended.
Rating: really liked it
I have been reading this series from book one; this is book fifteen. In this episode Maisie is helping the American Agent that helped her escape from Munich in 1938. They are attempting to solve the London murder of an American reporter. The Germans are bombing England and Maisie and friends are in the middle of the blitz.
The book is well written and the plot twists and turns as only Winspear can do it. It is great to get back together with all the regular characters and Maisie. This is one of my favorite series. I think I preferred the earlier books dealing with World War One and its aftermath. That is what enticed me to read the series. Winspear did a great job revealing the changes in society and particularly women that occurred immediately after WWI, as well as the problems of the veterans. Many of the issues apply to WWII also. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.
I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book is eleven hours and two minutes. Orlagh Cassidy does an excellent job narratoring the book. Cassidy is an award-winning audiobook narrator and actress. She is one of my favorite narrators.
Rating: really liked it
I really like this series and have been reading it for years. Unfortunately, I appeared to have missed one and I would have liked to have read it before this one. I would like to have met Mark Scott and read his adventures with Maisie before tackling this one but I was able to keep up.
The one thing that niggled me in this book was Maisie's preoccupation with what Scott, an American agent, was doing in London. He told her he was working for the president and it was top secret but she just wouldn't stop trying to find out what his mission was. You would think that she of all people would be more respectful of boundary lines, after all she has lots in her murder investigations. But the entire way through she obsesses on it and it got quite annoying and was completely out of character.
Scott and Maisie are assigned a murder investigation of an American reporter, Catherine Saxon, the daughter of an isolationist Senator. Maisie and her best friend, Priscilla, are driving ambulances at night and Saxon actually rode with them to write a story the night she was murdered. Maisie is even more determined to solve the complex murder that has lots of twists and turns.
There are lots of personal things going on with her. She is trying to adopt Anna, an orphan, she has been caring for awhile. She has a budding romance with Scott. Priscilla's family is trying to recover from numerous war injuries. Maisie helps both Billy and Sandra's families to her estate to be safer from the horrible bombing. And, of course, there is Maisie's nonstop investigation into Scott's mission.
This is not my favorite book in the series. It dragged for me and I really just wanted it done by the end. Have I read too many WWII books lately? Was the writing over long? Could the author use a spark of humor in her books to lighten it up occasionally ? Yes to all of the above.
Rating: really liked it
This is the second to last Maisie Dobbs book available as of now. I felt pressured to read it quickly so I would have time to finish the next/last book in time. That one won’t be renewable. It is fairly new and there is a queue for every edition. I had borrowed it as I was reading this book.
One thing that is hard for me in these books is that the chapters are long. I think I’d read the books faster if the chapters were shorter. Ideally I prefer stopping each reading session at the end of a chapter and when the next chapter is very long I’m less likely to make the commitment to continue reading or picking up the book and reading.
The Blitz! I’ve read enough history and historical fiction about the Blitz so that when the Blitz was coming up I knew that many of the locations mentioned in these stories were going to be affected by the bombs.
I liked the mystery and this is one I didn’t guess until toward the very end, though the author played fair with her clues.
I appreciated the inclusion of information about Ambassador Joseph Kennedy, however revolting that information was. I thought I knew about him but even though he (off page) was a very small part of this story I learned some additional details.
In every book in this series, it seems that Maisie’s life changes significantly, but the change(s) in this book are the most profound thus far.
This is interesting. I knew that Chelstone Manor in Kent was fictional but I didn’t know about the Sussex County connection: https://www.greatbritishlife.co.uk/pe...
As is usual in her books, there is a worthwhile author’s note at the end and this one was information and one part was highly emotional. Very poignant and meaningful.
I cannot stress enough that these books have to be read in exact order from book 1 to whatever the last book will be. I hope that the last book is not the next book, #16, though I’ve been given a heads up that maybe it will be the last. I do love this series. I’ll be sad if it ends but I’m anxious to finish it so when if ends if I’ve read the final book I’ll feel content. I notice that the author perhaps has another book scheduled to be published in 2022 (A Sunlit Weapon) but it looks as though it might not be a Maisie book. I’ve added it to my to read shelf. I enjoy this author and am willing to try any other books she writes, whether another series or standalone books. If it’s #17 in the Maisie Dobbs series I’ll definitely want to read it. I say perhaps because I’m seeing it at Goodreads but nowhere else last I checked.
4-1/2 stars
Rating: really liked it
I think one thing I appreciate most about Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series is the author's allowing her heroine and those in her universe to experience life's ups and downs without pulling any punches. Maisie has experienced tremendous loss in her life, but manages to take the losses and incorporate them into her psyche, growing and learning, however, painfully from each one. Her life representative of our shared human experience, making it is easy to empathize with Maisie and root for her happiness.
Of course, this is a mystery series and not, on the surface anyway, primarily concerned with the heroine's private life. In the American Agent, Maisie and best friend Pris are ambulance drivers in London during the Blitz. The death and destruction of this period are related to the American populace by radio or "wireless" broadcasts led by famed American journalist Edward R. Murrow. The United States, still in the throes of Isolationism following the Great War, is still reluctant to enter the fight against Hitler.
Catherine Saxon is a young reporter who is working with Murrow and hopes to bring America into the fray, despite the disapproval of her politician father and brother. Maisie is asked to investigate when Catherine is found with her throat slit in her rented London rooms. Since Catherine was an American citizen and the daughter of a senator, Maisie is paired with American Department of Justice Agent Mark Scott as she tries to identify the killer.
Actual transcripts of radio broadcasts from the era punctuate fast moving events and Maisie's lack of closure from a case years before influence her unraveling of this investigation. Her efforts to adopt her ward Anna and to resist her attraction to the mysterious Mark Scott, who has secrets of his own, make this 15th series entry particularly compelling as Maisie personal life takes some satisfying turns.
Winspear is a master of historical suspense and her respect and admiration for her characters is always evident. While each Maisie Dobbs is a not to missed experience, The American Agent is a series standout.
My thanks to HarperCollins and Edelweiss for providing an egalley. My opinions are my own.
Rating: really liked it
How I loved this book! It may be the first Maisie Dobbs novel I've read but it certainly won't be the last. Such a moving, evocative portrayal of London and Kent under attack from the Blitz in the last weeks of 1940, and a fascinating mystery investigated by a woman I adored. There were tears.... I must seek out more. Review to follow shortly on For Winter Nights.
Rating: really liked it
The American Agent has made me a very happy reader. Firstly, because I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Secondly, because it’s introduced me to a new historical crime series (a genre I love) to follow in future. Thirdly because, being the fifteenth in the series, it means I’ve got fourteen previous instalments to look forward to reading. At this point, I’ll assure readers like myself coming new to the series that The American Agent works perfectly well as a standalone read. Naturally, there are a few brief references to events and characters from previous books in the series so there are things that won’t come as so much of a surprise as if I’d read the series from the beginning. However, thanks to the skill of the author, I didn’t feel these references gave me the full story. In fact, they left me wanting to find out more about the context in which they had occurred.
What we now refer to as the “Blitz”, the intense bombing of London and other British cities between Autumn 1940 and Spring 1941 (which Jacqueline Winspear talks more about in her fascinating Author’s Note) is the backdrop to Maisie’s investigation into the death of American journalist, Catherine Saxon. The atmosphere of a bomb-ravaged London and the nightly peril facing Londoners is brilliantly conveyed. I really loved the inclusion of excerpts from actual radio broadcasts and newspaper articles from the time, including those by war correspondent and broadcaster, Ed Murrow. (Incidentally, he makes a cameo appearance in one of my favourite films set in World War 2, Sink the Bismarck! (1960), starring Kenneth More and based on the book, The Last Nine Days of the Bismarck by C.S Forester.)
The fact the victim is an American journalist broadcasting about the brutal realities of war which British civilians – not just its armed forces – are facing turns out to be significant at a time when politicians in the United States are divided over to what extent their nation should get involved and come to the aid of Britain and her allies. For both interventionists and isolationists, propaganda plays an important role. So some contemporary echoes there…
The nationality of the victim also involves Maisie teaming up with American agent, Mark Scott, (with whom she has history, we learn) to work on the investigation. However, she starts to wonder what has brought him so conveniently to London and just what exactly is the nature of his role especially as Maisie finds herself doing the majority of the investigative legwork (with the assistance of the trusty Billy) despite at the same time doing nightly shifts driving an ambulance through the blitzed streets of London. Furthermore, she has matters of a personal nature concerning her as well.
I have to say I can now understand completely why so many readers have fallen in love with Maisie Dobbs as a character. She’s perceptive, independent-minded, thoughtful, observant and compassionate. For various reasons, Maisie feels a personal responsibility to find out who killed Catherine Saxon and this empathy characterises her dealings with other people drawn into the investigation. I particularly liked the way Maisie recognises the impact of sudden death on those touched by it and the investigation that follows, even if this is necessary to find out the truth. ‘She knew that death unsettled any family, but a murder was akin to a bomb dropping – the living were cast this way and that as debris from the investigation fell around them.’ In an especially neat touch, once the case has been resolved, Maisie makes a point of revisiting the key people she’s come into contact with during her investigation, giving them the equivalent of a literary curtain call.
Maisie Dobbs now has a new fan and I can wholeheartedly recommend The American Agent to readers looking for a historical crime series that combines an intriguing, well-constructed mystery, an engaging leading character and convincing period detail.
Rating: really liked it
So much happened her. Some shocking, some unexpected. Maisie is called on to investigate the death of an American woman journalist. All hush hush and involving highly placed American citizens and their agency. Maisie renews her acquaintance with a person she’d met in a dangerous situation in an earlier novel. Little Anna’s guardianship is still being looked at. Another super edition in this fab. Maisie series.
Rating: really liked it
I'd give this about a 3.75 if I could. The war years continue to be a vast improvement in the Maisie Dobbs series--I guess Winspear's writing itself has improved, though there's still a humorless edge to her books that makes the characters flatter than they could be. And the sticking point for me continues to be the plots, which at some point muddle, then get neatly finished at the end. Her fans won't care.
Rating: really liked it
Maisie Dobbs is just one of my favorite mystery series! Winspear does a fabulous job of incorporating the time and place. This book takes place during the Blitz of London and you really get a feel for what that might have been like.
Rating: really liked it
Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Series: Maisie Dobbs #15
Publication Date: 3/26/19
Period: WWII London - 1940
Number of Pages: 400
Here are just a few words to tell you how I am feeling about this series. I read the sixteenth book in the series first – The Consequences of Fear – and I was awestruck. I wanted to know what made Maisie into Maisie, so I decided to go to the beginning and read the series from there. I’m glad I read that first book, but I’d never read it a second time. It is one of the saddest, most heart-wrenching books I’ve ever read. I very quickly decided that I would continue reading the series, but only the later books because the book blurbs on those earlier books seem to continue to give Maisie a very sad life. If you are into that kind of thing, you will probably love them because the writing is excellent. In this book, we finally had some good stuff happen in Maisie’s life and I loved that! So, for this reader, reading the later books in the series is the way to go.
I listened to the audiobook narrated by Orlagh Cassidy, and she did an excellent job. The pacing is excellently done and the voices she uses for each character are unique distinguishable.
It is toward the end of 1940 and London has been suffering nightly bombings for what seems like forever. It isn’t just London being bombed, but they are getting the brunt of it. Londoners are being worn down from nightly bombings, loss of lives, loss of homes and businesses, and still having to carry on a normal life with work. Everyone is contributing to the war effort in whatever way they can – those men who are too old or infirm to join in the fighting work as air raid wardens, women work as ambulance drivers, nurses, and numerous other roles. This author’s descriptions are so vivid you’ll feel as if you are right there in the midst of the fires, hearing the rat-tat-tat of the anti-aircraft guns, feeling the terror and absolute horror.
Maisie Dobbs and her best friend Priscilla leave their family home in the countryside each Monday and drive an ambulance through the bombed-out London streets from Monday through Thursday when they return back home to their families. On their latest run, they are accompanied by American war correspondent, Catherine Saxon, who will be broadcasting her report back to the United States. She is a kind, intelligent, sincere, dedicated young woman who wants to become one of Mr. Murrow’s boys – and she wants to use her broadcasts to influence her countrymen to boldly support England in their war effort.
Maisie and Priscilla hear Catherine’s report as it is simultaneously broadcast in both the USA and England. The young woman made a poignantly beautiful report that factually reports all she’d witnessed during the ambulance run while still tugging at the heartstrings. Then, Maisie gets a call from Robert MacFarlane of Scotland Yard informing her that Catherine is deceased. She has been murdered and Scotland Yard is asking Maisie to work with a member of the American embassy staff, Mark Scott, to solve the murder. There is, of course, more to Mark Scott than meets the eye because he and Maisie have worked together before. He even saved her life in Berlin.
Mark leaves the investigation in Maisie’s capable hands and she keeps coming up with more questions than answers. This lovely young woman already has quite a history for the few years she’s spent upon this earth. She was in Spain and later France – and well, her war coverage has been all over the place. Has she stumbled upon secrets that someone was willing to kill for? Could it be a personal relationship? Was it just happenstance and she interrupted a burglar? So very many questions! So many suspects! So few answers!
You’ll just need to read the book to follow along with Maisie’s investigation and identify the murderer. Then, there are fun visits with Maisie’s family – especially Anna, the ward Maisie is hoping to adopt. And … Could Maisie be falling in love again?
I thoroughly enjoyed this read and can highly recommend it. One thing I particularly liked – especially in the audio format – is the text from the actual broadcasts made by the war correspondents. Happy reading!
Rating: really liked it
I've been in tears at the end of a Maisie Dobbs book before, but this might be the first time they are tears of joy. These books are becoming epic in the ground they cover. This may be my favorite of this phase of the Maisie Dobbs series (the WW2 phase).
The Blitz is happening throughout this book and the way the story marches on, you realize the strength and determination it took for Londoners to carry on while being absolutely devastated by bombs on a nightly basis. Not only does Masie track down the killer of an up-and-coming American journalist who shadowed her and Priscilla on their ambulance service, she's dealing with a budding relationship with a love interest and trying to manage being a guardian (and hopeful mother) to the evacuated orphan who came to Chelstone a book or two ago.
I wasn't sure about the relationship piece at first, but a beautiful scene where Maisie goes through notes from a previous case mover her forward along with any of us who were still caught up on James.
Love, when so you're loved again.
Rating: really liked it
MAISIE RETURNS AS BLITZ RAINS TERROR ON LONDON
The latest in the beloved Maisie Dobbs’ series wins on all fronts! It features my fave historical mystery character during my fave historical period.
BLITZ
The victim, Catherine Saxon, is an American reporting from London during the Blitz. She’s as beautiful and feisty and real as Maisie, the forensic psychologist working with Scotland Yard and the American government to uncover her killer.
INTRIGUE
The Kennedys figure secretly into this WWII book of intrigue. And Maisie falls in love again, her intended as worthy a partner as she. What more could a reader require?
HEART SEIZED
Well let me tell you what the blessed reader gets! Stellar writing, spot-on insights into human nature (a particular Winspear strength), secondary characters as compelling as the leads, cinematic descriptions that seize the heart as Nazi bombs whistle, Brits race to shelters, grievously injured children are dug from rubble. I’ve read all 14 previous books in the series and find this newest touches me as deeply as the self-named first, which gobsmacked me from page one.
NOT FORGOTTEN
Maisie brings a soulful touch to her work. Here, her attention to the victim’s body is described: “She reached under the sheet and took Catherine Saxon’s hand. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered....’Thank you for being brave in all the places where you traveled to tell stories of the people. You will not be forgotten, Catherine. And I will find out who took your life. Bless you, and may you know peace.’”
SUBCONSCIOUS
I was deeply moved, too, when a quote from Elizabeth Barrett Browning becomes a significant clue: “Loved, when so you’re loved again.” Although from a previous case, it slips from Maudie’s subconscious, revealing truths about Catherine’s killer and portending new love for Maisie herself.
SIGH...
Oh, how I pine to learn Maisie’s new life with her new love but will have to wait, as all Winspear’s readers will have to do. 2020 cannot come soon enough!
WWMD?
The author also just released WHAT WOULD MAISIE DO?, a “collection of readers’ favorite passages from the Maisie Dobbs’ series, together with the story behind each passage, sections on locations featured in the books, and pages for journaling.”
AVAILABLE
Both books are available from Amazon, your fave independent bookstore and through links on the author’s website: jacquelinewinspear.com.
Rating: really liked it
Brava Ms Winspear. You and Maisie have outdone yourselves. Another good mystery, but the real brilliance of this book and others in this series is Jacqueline Winspear’s superlative ability to pull the reader into the time and place of the story.
Through her descriptions of her characters and their lives, we are with them in London in 1940 during the blitz. We share their fears, admire their courage and live the events with them. This is marvelous writing by a gifted author. Thank you.
Rating: really liked it
I continue to enjoy the evolving story of Maisie's life. But, the mysteries are increasingly weak and there is little to no development or sharing of the clues/forensic evidence/psychological processing. We just meet all of the characters, listen to Maisie ask a million questions of herself, and then, presto, murder solved.
