The Mapping of Love and Death

The Mapping of Love and Death
By Jacqueline Winspear
Harper, 2010. 338 p. Mystery

Maps are fascinating objects and the making of them requires certain character traits: courage, an adventurous spirit and an ability to see the world from different points of view. Finally, a cartographer must be willing to travel wherever necessary, often confronting serious danger in the process.

Michael Clifton has the right personality and the right skills, so when WWI begins he immediately sets off from California to join an English cartography unit deployed to map unchartered war grounds. Sadly, Michael won’t last out the war and when his remains are found years later a mysterious packet of letters is returned to his parents which hint at a wartime love affair in Paris. Wanting to find the last person Michael loved, his family travels to England and employs the inimitable Maisie Dobbs to discover the truth of the matter. But Maisie’s quick to discern that Michael was murdered before the bombing even started and when that detail comes to light the investigation explodes in all directions, leaving Maisie to follow each piece of the highly dangerous puzzle all the way to the end.

Winspear’s latest mystery featuring Maisie Dobbs is pleasant enough and followers of the series are in for a surprise when a new love interest crops up; however, the book wasn’t especially notable unless you’ve become attached to Maisie and her past adventures.

DAP