Maisie Dobbs
Written by Jacqueline Winspear, Narrated by Rita Barrington
Reason for Reading: Real Life book club
Genre: Historical Fiction / Mystery / Women's Fiction
Review
Maisie Dobbs is disappointed when her first case as a PI is to investigate a potential infidelity; however, things get a little more interesting when her investigation brings to light a suspicious death in a home for soldiers injured in WWI. But investigating the home turns out to be more dangerous than she'd thought.
This book was WAY outside my box. I generally don't read women's fiction or books that have a feminist leaning - though sometimes I enjoy such books. So this mystery wasn't for me. The mystery part of the story was very light - she investigated a potential infidelity at the beginning, and at the end she investigated a suspicious home for injured soldiers. The middle half of the book was all Maisie's background and character development, which I found off-topic and a bit contrived. Maisie is one of those WWI women who did absolutely everything the stereotypical WWI literary woman does. She got caught up in the feminist movement (somewhat), was educated beyond her class and gender, lied about her age so she could be a nurse in France, etc. etc. It's like Winspear took a list of WWI woman stereotypes and checked them all off. Thus, I felt absolutely no empathy for Maisie's character because she felt so fake to me. The little touch of mystery at the beginning and the end wasn't enough to save the book.
I can see that many readers would love this book - if you like women PI's, especially of the historical variety, then this is probably a good book for you. The series IS popular. It just wasn't for me. *shrug*
Midnight Riot
Written by Ben Aaronovitch, Narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
Reason for Reading: Real-life Book Club
Review
Peter Grant is a bumbling, easily distracted constable on the fast-track for a paper-pushing job. His luck unexpectedly turns when a ghost approaches him at a murder scene. Apparently Grant does have a talent - he can see dead people. Suddenly, he is adopted as the sole apprentice of Detective Chief Inspector Nightengale, who heads the supernatural division of the police. Grant is up to his ears in weirdness as he tries to solve the murder while learning the ropes in the unexpectedly supernatural world. I mostly enjoyed Midnight Riot for its interesting world-building and a lot of dry humor. The character of Grant was likable enough - even if he was bumbling - and I suspect I'd grow attached to him after a few books in the series. The plot tended to stray a bit more than I prefer, though. Nothing too bad, mind you, but there were a few moments where I wondered if we were still trying to catch the murderer or just enjoy the scenery. I prefer a little more focus. But these passages were never very long, and the book was, for the most part, quite enjoyable. I'm sure I'll pick up the next in the series some day.
As for the narration by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith...I think his cadence, tone, and delivery was done perfectly for our character. He was so dead-pan with the dry humor that I sometimes only caught the humor by delayed reaction. Which made it funnier. :) On the other hand, he was a rather loud (and wet) breather. I figured at first that this was put on for the character effect - but then I realized that such breathing would be difficult to fake unless he narrator was really congested. So...the loud breathing wasn't enough to put me off, but it might be enough to put SOME people off.
