Although this was the fifth in a series about a WW1 era private investigator named Maisie Dobbs, it was the first I had read by this author. Set in London and the nearby towns, it was rich in details about this period in English history.

Jacqueline Winspear does a wonderful …more job of creating believable characters dealing with the broken pieces of their lives after WW1. I thoroughly enjoyed "living" in this era while watching Maisie unearth clues to discover who is setting small fires in a village. She reminds me a bit of a young Miss Marple in the way she gains the confidence of the residents of the village. (less)