Reviews for Leaving everything most loved : a novel

Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Months after Usha Pramal is murdered in London, Scotland Yard having declared the crime a cold case contracts with Maisie Dobbs for help. But the day before psychologist and investigator Maisie is to meet with Usha's friend and fellow countrywoman Maya Patel, Maya is killed in the same manner as Usha. Maisie wonders who would have wanted to kill Usha, by all accounts an exceptionally beautiful, caring, and well-educated woman who comforted others with her touch and remedies. As Maisie looks into the status of Indian women in England, her own desire to travel deepens, leading to further conundrums involving both her would-be fiance, James Compton, and her business. The cross-cultural theme adds another dimension to Winspear's London of 1933, with its lingering traces of World War I and ominous rumblings of World War II. This tenth Maisie Dobbs mystery continues the series' high quality, capturing a time and place and featuring a protagonist as compassionate as she is intuitive. A fine historical mystery with broad appeal.--Leber, Michele Copyright 2010 Booklist


Library Journal
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Parting is such sweet sorrow. Winspear's tenth Maisie Dobbs novel (after Elegy for Eddie) finds the intrepid sleuth at a crossroads. She feels a strong urge to travel abroad, but human ties have kept her stationary. Her employees are financially dependent on her, and her love, James, is anxious to know if she will become his wife. In the midst of all these decisions, Maisie is approached by a grieving brother of a murdered Indian woman named Usha. She was murdered months ago, and Scotland Yard has failed to produce any leads. Maisie takes on this sorrowful case of a woman who came to England with altruistic goals and a good position only to fall into near-indentured servitude. How did this happen? Who would want Usha dead? Just because you leave something behind doesn't mean it won't follow you. Verdict Winspear adroitly weaves a mystery involving tensions with race, class, and even love. The novel will leave readers wondering if they have said a last good-bye to a dear friend. Highly recommended for fans of strong women detectives such as Bess Crawford and Mary Russell.-Susan Moritz, Silver Spring, MD (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.


Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Between the wars, the shooting death of an Indian woman is not high on the priority list of the British police. Psychologist and private investigator Maisie Dobbs has been trying to find a missing teen, until a visit from DI Caldwell immerses her in a case that will change her life. As her wealthy upper-class lover, James Compton, whom she's steadfastly refused to marry, prepares to leave for Canada, Maisie yearns to travel to India in the footsteps of her mentor and benefactor, Maurice Blanche. So when Caldwell arrives with Mr. Pramal, an Indian who served with distinction in the British Army in World War I, Maisie is intrigued by the unsolved murder of his sister. Usha Pramal had come from India as a governess but had more recently found herself living in a hostel and taking on cleaning jobs for a living. Usha--beautiful, spirited, educated and unusually independent for an Indian woman--may have left India after falling for an Englishman whose clumsy approach to her family put him off limits. Maisie discovers that Usha had amassed far more money for her dream of starting a school for girls in India than her cleaning jobs would account for. Her income may have been derived from her talent for healing, both by medicinal mixtures and the laying on of hands. When Usha's friend Maya Patel is murdered in the same way as Usha, Maisie and her staffers, Billy and Sandra, pull out all the stops to solve the case. Not the strongest mystery in Maisie's ongoing saga (Elegy for Eddie, 2012, etc.), but one that delves deeply into her complicated relationships and hints at a compelling future.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.


Publishers Weekly
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Agatha-winner Winspear broadens her heroine's horizons while offering only routine sleuthing in her solid 10th Maisie Dobbs mystery (after 2012's Elegy for Eddie). In the summer of 1933, Maisie feels a desire to travel abroad to gain the kind of experience and understanding of other cultures that stood her late mentor, Dr. Maurice Blanche, in such good stead. Meanwhile, Detective Inspector Caldwell of Scotland Yard needs her help on a case. Two months after the discovery of the body of Usha Pramal, an Indian woman serving as governess for an English family, in a Camberwell canal, the trail of the person who shot her dead has gone cold. In her search for answers, Maisie develops a strong empathy for the murder victim, who wished to found a school for underprivileged girls. The tribulations of Maisie's employees and her ambivalence about a marriage proposal tend to overshadow the detection. Agent: Amy Rennert, Amy Rennert Agency. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

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