Maisie Dobbs: A Lesson in Secrets, by Jacqueline Winspear

Maisie Dobbs is a psychologist and investigator. Beginning with Winspear's first eponymous novel, (originally meant as a standalone), she rises from her original low station.

Her life as a Cambridge scholar interrupted by WWI, she first becomes a nurse, then an investigator's assistant, and eventually, principal of her own detective agency. Along the way, she experiences tragedy, friendship. and romance.

Mystery author Lee Child finds Maisie a well-rounded, evolving character whose stories he enjoys. He feels she shares the kinship of non-conformity with Jack Reacher.

Set in the early 1930s, this book deals with the rise of Nazism, communism, and peace education. Now an independent investigator, Maisie is called in by the Secret Service, and also receives another interesting proposal. Reading this meticulously researched series in no particular order, I've been with Maisie Dobbs in London, India, Gibraltar, Canada, and of course, Chelstone. I've ridden along in her red MG, and imagined the more sedate and less conspicuous Siddeley she later acquires. Through the stories, I've learned something of the plight of WWI veterans without pensions, the terrible treatment of "conchies," conscientious objectors to war, and the social unrest of the 1930s. I've also learned a bit about how the Spanish Civil War affected Gibraltar, and something of the community of Sephardic Jews who live there.

I aim to keep on reading her stories, learning at the same time.