Maisie Dobbs/Messenger of Truth

These old-fashioned mystery novels by Jacqueline Winspear are in the style of Sayers and Allingham, even though they're modern. It's set in the 20's, but reverts occasionally back to the Great War, with the theme that what happened then had consequences which went on and on. Maisie Dobbs is the female investigator who solves mysteries using her psychological training and a bit of ESP; she's more interested in the human element than the solving of the puzzle.

It’s rather commonplace – the cockney servant, the emancipated woman and the convoluted mystery which is resolved easily in the last chapter. The writing is pedestrian, and she has a habit of telling us twice, rather than showing us once, what is going on. While it’s reminiscent of the early mystery classics, it lacks the depth of thought and the eye to detail, too – for example, historical characters think and speak in ways which would have been quite foreign to them. It has interesting moments, but it’s definitely not my kind of book.