I really like this mystery series. Love the setting and sense of place. Characters are well rounded and I like the way the author tells a story. This time we get to see Maisie grow as she confronts some ghosts from the past while on a visit to France. I had part of the mystery figured out but that didn't stop me from enjoying the story.That being said, I didn't quite understand the psychic resolution. Did that come out of the blue or did I miss something at the beginning of the story? I went back in my mind to see if I had heard mention of that particular character and came up blank. For this reason I cannot give it a 5-star rating. If it was my own fault because I was woolgathering instead of paying attention to the narrator, I apologize and I'll give it a 5, but so far I haven't been able to remember any previous reference to this character.

Onvan : Pardonable Lies (Maisie Dobbs, #3) - Nevisande : Jacqueline Winspear - ISBN : 312426216 - ISBN13 : 9780312426217 - Dar 359 Safhe - Saal e Chap : 2005

Maisie Dobbs is hired to help a man honor his late wifes final wish, even though her new client seems more interested in fulfilling an obligation than in finding out what really happened to the son he lost in the war. The case takes Maisie back through her own past when she revisits her early spiritualist investigations, her old school friends, and the days she spent as a nurse in WWI era France.It always takes me some time to settle in to the style of a new Maisie book. They have a very different feel than the other mysteries I read, both because of Maisies rich history and her unusual style of sleuthing. Like the other books in the series so far, this one is very well fitted into its time period. The character development also continues to stand out.And like the others, it involves a certain level of coincidence. The book fully acknowledges this and even works it into the characters philosophy. I enjoy these stories enough to go with that, but it still leaves me a little uncomfortable. There are a few hints at a deeper significance to these connections, so Ill be interested to see if that goes anywhere.Theres no real spark between Maisie and this books potential love interest, especially when compared with the portrayal of Simon from the first book. Even if Maisie seemed fully ready for another serious relationship, its hard for me to imagine it happening with any of the men currently in her life.

EXCERPT: The young policewoman stood in the corner of the room. Plain whitewashed walls, a heavy wooden door, a wooden table with two chairs, and one small window with frosted glass rendered the room soulless. It was a cold afternoon and she had been in the corner since coming on duty two hours ago, her only company the rumpled and bent girl sitting in the chair that faced the wall. Others had come into the room to sit in the second chair: first Detective Inspector Richard Stratton with Detective Sargeant Caldwell standing behind him; then Stratton standing while a doctor from the Maudsley Hospital sat before the girl, trying to get her to speak. The girl - no one knew her age or where she had come from because she hadn't spoken a word since she had been brought in this morning, her blood-stained dress, hands and face showing a month's worth of dirt - was now waiting for another person who had been summoned to question her: a Miss Maisie Dobbs. The policewoman had heard of Maisie Dobbs, but from what she had seen today, she wasn't sure anyone could get this young scrubber to talk. THE BLURB: In the third novel of this bestselling series, London investigator Maisie Dobbs faces grave danger as she returns to the site of her most painful WWI memories to resolve the mystery of a pilot's deathAgatha Christie's Miss Marple. Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone. Alexander McCall Smith's Precious Ramotswe. Every once in a while, a detective bursts on the scene who captures readers' hearts -- and imaginations -- and doesn't let go. And so it was with Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs, who made her debut just two years ago in the eponymously titled first book of the series, and is already on her way to becoming a household name. A deathbed plea from his wife leads Sir Cecil Lawton to seek the aid of Maisie Dobbs, psychologist and investigator. As Maisie soon learns, Agnes Lawton never accepted that her aviator son was killed in the Great War, a torment that led her not only to the edge of madness but to the doors of those who practice the dark arts and commune with the spirit world. In accepting the assignment, Maisie finds her spiritual strength tested, as well as her regard for her mentor, Maurice Blanche. The mission also brings her together once again with her college friend Priscilla Evernden, who served in France and who lost three brothers to the war -- one of whom, it turns out, had an intriguing connection to the missing Ralph Lawton.Following on the heels of the triumphant Birds of a Feather, Pardonable Lies is the most compelling installment yet in the chronicles of Maisie Dobbs, "a heroine to cherish (Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review). MY THOUGHTS: Pardonable Lies is my first encounter with Maisie Dobbs, a very pleasurable encounter. This novel covers a lot of different topics, including homophobia and mysticism. Set in 1930, Maisie is a seemingly strong willed woman who has carved out a career for herself as a Psychologist/Investigator. But during the course of her investigations, Maisie is forced to confront some of her own demons, and some of her past actions may be placing her in danger. Jacqueline Winspear has created a wonderful cast of characters and a deliciously compelling plot. Maisie Dobbs has a new fan in me. I listened to the audiobook of Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear, narrated by Orlagh Cassidy via OverDrive. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions. Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the 'about' page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system. This review and others are also published on my blog sandysbookaday.wordpress.com page https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...

This is the third in the series and they get better as they go. While I found the first too heavy on backstory,this one moves along At the end of the audio-book, there was a ten minute interview with the author who said she had always done non-fiction. She was stuck in a traffic jam in London when Maisie walked up out of the underground and appeared to Winspear almost fully realized. There were scenes that came to her while she was writing the first book, that she knew belong in the second or third.This one takes place in 1930 -- so it is considerably after the Great War. Nonetheless, two of her three cases involve that war's aftermath and she must travel to old battlefields. The author, whose grandfather was seriously injured in the Battle of the Somme, also travels to those battlefields.I found the final scene, on the anniversary of Armistice Day, to be exceptionally moving. Some reviewers complain that she spends too much time on the character's attire, Maisie's MG, buildings and furnishing, but in the interview she commented that she uses those detail to "anchor" the scenes in time.