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Business hasn’t exactly been looking up lately, so psychologist and investigator Maisie Dobbs gladly accepts an assignment to investigate matters concerning a land purchase in Kent. There have been a number of unexplained fires and petty crimes in the village during hop-picking season. Things aren’t quite right in the quaint little town, especially with the inhabitants acting strangely—as if they’ve got something to hide.
Gypsies and Londoners flock to Kent during harvest time to earn money picking hops, and the locals are bitterly prejudiced toward them, pointing fingers when something comes up stolen. And the outsiders are never welcome in the shops and restaurants. The villagers are also possessed by the memory of a wartime Zeppelin raid that wiped out an entire family except for a son who had joined the army—and who’s now listed as killed in action.
As Maisie struggles with the looming loss of her fiancé, Simon, who’s been in a coma since the war, she follows leads and spends time with an old gypsy woman who knows a secret or two—and who helps to lead Maisie to a startling truth concerning one of their own.
I can’t think of another author who can write a mystery with as much depth and skill as Jacqueline Winspear. An Incomplete Revenge pulls you in emotionally and challenges your mind as each new clue is unearthed. Try as you might, you won’t be able to unravel the mystery until the last chapter, which comes with a surprising twist. If I don’t see the end coming, in my opinion, the author has done an incredible job with the plot—and Ms. Winspear has definitely done that in An Incomplete Revenge.
At times, the main character might seem a little rough and cold, but as a nurse in the war, Maisie saw things she’d rather forget, and she’s learned to control her emotions so they don’t get in the way of her work. Still, her warm and sensitive side comes out, too, and you’ll find yourself liking her despite her few flaws.
If you’re looking for something unique and fresh in a mystery novel, look no further than Jacqueline Winspear and her Maisie Dobbs novels. Her characters, settings, and time periods aren’t the same old same old, and you’re sure to be drawn into the mystery that is Maisie Dobbs.
