An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline WinspearMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Maisie Dobbs is engaged to investigate a series of acts of vandalism (mainly fires) and petty crimes around a Kentish brick factory that her client intends to purchase from the aristocratic owner. Travelling to the quaint Kent village, not far from the place where her father lives, Maisie finds that the village has an uneasy feeling.
It is hop-picking season so the village has an influx of Londoners down for a working holiday, plus a contingent of gypsies, also there for the hops. There's a lot of racism on all parts, with each faction blaming the other for the fires which seemingly only occur in September of each year, but the villagers are strangely loath to involve either the police or the fire brigade.
As Maisie digs she finds the truth centres around the local landowner and the tragic death of a local family whose bakery was hit by a Zeppelin during the war.
I live in Kent so reading about villages close to where I live is always interesting. Also my grandparents and great aunts and uncles used to regale me with stories of coming down to Kent from London for hop-picking season so that was another area of interest. I also 'enjoyed' reading about the trauma of WW1 more than a decade after its end. Maisie still suffers, as does her assistant, and her wartime Beau is still in a coma in hospital.
I read the first Maisie Dobbs book years ago, and enjoyed it but didn't love it. The books and eBooks are always so expensive that I have never bothered to read any more. However, recently quite a lot of the books have been limited time offers (starting with this one) so I bought three to give the series another try.
I liked the mystery element, obviously some of the character back-stories have been lost by not reading books two, three and four, but some of the woo-woo moments were a bit irritating. Again, enjoyable but not making me avid to devour the entire series.
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