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AMONG THE MAD
by Jacqueline Winspear
Picador, November 2009
336 pages
$14.00
ISBN: 0312429258


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

A kind gesture by a nice woman-with-a-past leads her into a race against time, as a very intelligent madman has the means to kill a lot of people if the neglected soldiers from World War One aren't treated better - and fast! - by the government. This sixth Maisie Dobbs story is my first, and easily understandable even without a good deal of back story. Winspear is a smooth, if somewhat depressing, writer, who carefully layers the plot and gently brings the characters into focus, all the while showing us some of the darker shades of the lives of people in 1932 London.

Unlike most female authors of the actual period, this between-the-wars story deals with regular folks, the middle class a bit, the lower middles a lot, and the very poor a great deal. It's depressing, sad, and makes the reader a bit angry, which was no doubt Winspear's intent. She's not that heavy-handed about it, though, keeping the pacing up and the plot twists coming fairly regularly, and the characterizations are quite fine. While this is a conspiracy thriller somewhat in the mode of the then-extremely-popular Edgar Wallace or Sax Rohmer, it's a very personal one, as the protagonist is a loner, not the Evil Mastermind plus minions so beloved of the times. And that makes the story rather more easy to comprehend and relate to for modern audiences.

I always find it very interesting to compare the attitudes of current writers setting their books around 1930 with those who wrote in or around 19. The difference was rather overwhelmingly brought to my attention in this instance as I had been just reading Margery Allingham's first Campion story from 1929 immediately before opening this. While Allingham is frothy on the surface and dark underneath, you really have to dig to find the substance; Winspear puts all that darkness right out at you. And it's not nice at all. It made me very uncomfortable. If that was her intent, then she certainly succeeded.

But this is also a very good, carefully plotted, well-constructed PI investigation, and a thoroughly enjoyable read at the same time, even for this wimp. A remarkable job from Winspear as that balance is very difficult to pull off well. And she does it beautifully, if - for my personal taste - a bit too darkly or occasionally redundantly. Dark, but not noir; genteel, but not cosy. Very difficult to classify, indeed, but well worth a read, especially if you enjoy thrillers from or set in the period between-the-wars. I was very impressed with this entry in the series, and intend to begin with the first as soon as possible; I hope my recommendation doesn't come back to bite me, but suspect it won't. This is a strong, well-nuanced writer who knows what she wants to say, and isn't afraid to say it.

Reviewed by Abbey Hamilton, January 2010

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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