Not sure how I ended up with this audiobook, but it was pretty entertaining. I might have liked it better if I’d started at the beginning of the serieNot sure how I ended up with this audiobook, but it was pretty entertaining. I might have liked it better if I’d started at the beginning of the series instead of at book 3. It’s a fun little caper. ...more
Most of the series I love are ending, and it's making me sad. I enjoyed the final Maisie Dobbs book, but it was a but uneven for me. It kicks off nearMost of the series I love are ending, and it's making me sad. I enjoyed the final Maisie Dobbs book, but it was a but uneven for me. It kicks off nearly a year after D-Day, and Britain is still under rationing and struggling with the aftermath of the bombings as well as widespread homelessness. When Lord Julian dies, Maisie helps Lady Rowan deal with the estate and subsequently needs to deal with squatters in the Ebery Place Mansion. That kicks off Maisie's investigation. It isn't really much of a mystery and pretty much concludes a bit more than halfway through the book, when the focus seems to shift to really wrapping up the series more neatly than I think it needed. The story might have been stronger without the last third of the book, but I know many readers will want to know how things turn out for all the characters they've read about for twenty years....more
I'm pretty satisfied with this conclusion to the Maggie Hope series. It's January 1944, and Maggie is back in London after her trip to Hollywood. She'I'm pretty satisfied with this conclusion to the Maggie Hope series. It's January 1944, and Maggie is back in London after her trip to Hollywood. She's sent by SOE to Spain on another mission (her last?), this time to figure out how close Heisenberg is to giving Germany an atomic bomb and to assassinate him if possible. As usual, Maggie isn't sure who she can trust, as other spies and double agents are always around. The story is engrossing and I didn't want to put it down. I liked that not everything is tied up by the end of the book, even though it's the last of the series. You definitely need to read the books in order, so if this sounds good, go back to Mr. Churchill's Secretary and start there.
Having read the synopsis, I was a bit apprehensive about Coco Chanel maybe getting a redemption arc, but I shouldn't have doubted Macneal, who always researches so deeply . You have to love a novelist who always includes a bibliography of sources! I'll probably revisit this series again at some point....more
CW: disordered eating While the narrator is excellent, listening to this on audio really stressed me out. For me, reading the text is much, much fasterCW: disordered eating While the narrator is excellent, listening to this on audio really stressed me out. For me, reading the text is much, much faster than listening, and I find difficult material harder to face when I consume it more slowly. Food, eating, cooking, binge-eating, not eating, judging other people's shopping or food preferences--all of this was non-stop in this novel. It's the point, though. The whole book is either dialogue or Piglet's internal monologue which always includes food/eating and Piglet's sense of control.
The plot is just a sketch: Piglet comes from a working class background but works in publishing and is about to marry into a well-off family. Then her fiance confesses a major betrayal and Piglet starts to unravel. But the plot isn't the point, and we don't even find out any details of Kit's betrayal. The point is how Piglet feels. I have to admit I kind of hated every character in the book with the exception of Piglet's best friend Margot and Piglet's sister. They were just all so awful to Piglet in their own ways, whether they meant to be or not. Yeah, this novel was stressful but extremely well done....more
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