You know what’s a great way to get some sewing done?
Leave the fabric on the kitchen table, go upstairs and curl up in bed with a good book.
I haven’t quite worked out how that’s going to end in a bridesmaid dress.
But I certainly know what I recommend you read while avoiding the work – Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs series.
(Public Service Announcement: these books can be used for avoidance no matter what the action, wedding-related not required.)
“The daughter of a struggling greengrocer, Maisie Dobbs was only thirteen when she was sent to work as a maid for wealthy London aristocrats. But being bright and thoughtful beyond her years, Maisie studies her way to Cambridge, then serves as a nurse on the Front during the Great War. Now, it’s the spring of 1929, nearly ten years after the Armistice and Maisie has just opened up her own detective agency. Her first assignment, a seemingly open-and-shut infidelity case, will reveal a much deeper, darker mystery, forcing Maisie to revisit the horrors of the war and the ghost she left behind. Refreshing, absorbing, and beautifully rendered, Maisie Dobbs marks the beginning of an incredible new series.” ~Book jacket of Maisie Dobbs, first book in the series
A British-style mystery… and not only because it’s set in 1930s London. Maisie Dobbs is everything I love in a mystery – it’s character based, clever, and not scary.
I can’t handle scary. The only kind of book I don’t read? Thriller.
I get enough suspense thinking every bump in the night is a killer breaking into my home, with rope, knives, and feathers at the ready. (I can only assume there will be some level of tickling involved in any horrible form of torture.)
Back to Maisie. A strong, independent woman investigating crime against the backdrop of a London still struggling for normalcy after the devastation wrecked by WWI. I love Maisie. I love her dad and Lady Rowan, her benefactor. I love her assistant, Billy Beale, and her childhood friend Priscilla. I love the insight the series gives me into the impact World War I had upon England and I love imaging women wearing cloche hats.
Most of all, I love how every book touches me.
1930s fashion is dream world,
Megan
A 1930s Female Detective – You Know You’re Interested
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey! This looks really fun! Thanks for the rec.
Oooh! Thanks for sharing! I’ll add it to my list right away!
Having someone shove feathers down your throat until you suffocate would be a horrible way to die, and you have a sick mind for even dreaming up that sort of torture.
Oooh thanks for the recommendation! I am with you – I HATE scary… anything. Books. Movies. People. You get the picture. Hate it all.
These books sound great!
This is intriguing. So much so that I went to Amazon and read the first chapter. Immediately thereafter, I reserved a copy online from my library. I am first on the list and should have it next week, I believe. This seems a cross between Alexander McCall Smith’s No. One Ladies’ Detective Agency and Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey era.
Love personal recommendations by someone whose opinions I respect. A la Ms. Dobbs, you may draw your own . . .
I tell my husband regularly : tickling hurts. Torture indeed.
My favorite kind of mystery novel is also character based, clever, and not scary. And 1930s British intrigue helps. Might have to check this one out.
I’m in! Must check these books out…thanks for mentioning them.
And good luck with the sewing
I don’t like scary either. Anxiety is not actually that enjoyable. These look great – I love the art on the covers.
Don’t read anything by Sophie Hannah if you get scared easily. Her stories are terrifying. (Although also British detective fiction.) (Those Brits – you can never tell whether they’re going to charm you or scare your pants off.)
Yes, feathers.
Of COURSE, feathers.
You rock.
This book sounds SO GOOD. I can’t remember the last time I was so intrigued by a book’s description. Yesssss.
OK, you know I am not smart enough for mystery novels, but these look so awesome that I might have to borrow them anyway!
Oh if I only had more time to read. I have such a huge list…now its huger!
Thanks for that!
Megan
http://reddirtandcrazy.blogspot.com/
My mother got me started on these. They are great reads!