Review: The American Agent

The American Agent by Jacqueline Winspear
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Maisie Dobbs is called in by Robbie Macfarlane to jointly lead an investigation into the murder of Miss Catherine Saxon, an American journalist who had only recently spent an evening trailing Maisie and Priscilla as they drove an ambulance helping those injured by the bombs falling on London during the Blitz. Catherine was the daughter of a prominent US Senator who was vehemently campaigning to prevent the US joining the war in Europe. Maisie's counterpart in the investigation is Mark Scott, the American agent who trailed her, and saved her life, in Munich.

I thought the solving of this mystery was a bit tenuous TBH, there were no clues to follow as such.

Also, I've said it before and I'll say it again. Maisie has these woo-woo moments when she steps into the mind of the victim (in the last book she actually felt the blow on the back of the head that killed the boy, but she seems totally oblivious to Anna having similar powers which led her to plead for Maisie and Priscilla not to go back to London. And don't get me started on Brenda who frankly gets more wrong than she gets right, telling Maisie to give up work to look after Anna, or saying Anna was hysterical because she misses Maisie - its like when my BFF's mother told her that she didn't spend enough time with her pre-school son (she works full-time and is the primary bread-winner in her family) and that's why he was playing up and refusing to go to after-school club, she dutifully took the next afternoon off and picked him up from school, only for him to have a meltdown because he wanted to go to afterschool club.

Also, why, why, why does Jacqueline Winspear insist on giving Maisie improbable romances? The relationship with James came out of nowhere and then he was almost immediately killed off and now she's apparently in love with Mark Scott and has been since Munich! Why? Is it possible to love someone when you don't trust them? She sends Billy to shadow Mark because she thinks he's using the investigation as a front (which he is) and she doesn't trust him! why couldn't she have married that nice policeman turned schoolteacher?

It is starting to feel like this series is less of a detective mystery series than a canter through key events in history (which Maisie is always in the thick of) with Maisie solving the mystery by pulling a rabbit out of a hat at the end. But, of course I will continue reading regardless LOL.

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