Gripping Finale to Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs Mysteries, “The Comfort of Ghosts”

The Comfort of Ghosts by Jacqueline Winspear

Jacqueline Winspear took great pains to forewarn her legion of fans that the Maisie Dobbs series would end with the recently published The Comfort of Ghosts. It initially set off alarm bells with many readers fearing the worst, but the good news is she did not kill off our beloved heroine!

Saying goodbye to a series you have loved and followed faithfully for 21 years with intelligent, empathetic, realistic characters who have become cherished friends makes for a bittersweet moment. However, poignancy is tempered by the consolation that this final book is a sublime, far-reaching tapestry providing a perfect upbeat ending. Readers may be tantalized with a glimmer of hope that an intriguing new character, Robin Davidson, a British scientist involved in the Manhattan Project, may require a novel-length epilogue sometime in the future.

A Brief History of Maisie Dobbs

As a short recap: Maisie Dobbs is the eponymous main character launched in 2003 with a freshness, vibrancy and level of factual detail that is seldom encountered in historical fiction. The debut novel, a perfect blend of mystery and sweeping family saga spanning the years 1910-1929, was a blockbuster success nominated for many major literary awards, significantly taking home the prizes for the Agatha Awards Best First Novel and the Macavity Award Winner for Best First Novel, and being named New York Times Notable Book of the Year.

The character Maisie was born in London in 1897. At age thirteen she became a maid in a Belgravia mansion working for Lord Julian and Lady Rowan Compton, also owners of Chelstone Manor, an impressive country estate in Kent. Work began at 5 a.m. and ended at 11 p.m. seven days per week with a half-day off each fortnight and on Boxing Day. Maisie shared an attic room with a slightly older maid, Enid, who befriended her.

Going into service was the best possible choice for this young girl of limited means whose mother had died during her early childhood. Her father Frankie Dobbs eked out a meager living as a costermonger peddling fruits and vegetables from a cart in a shabby London neighborhood. When most of the estate workers departed to fight WWI in 1914, he assumed the position of head groom and later, horse trainer, and moved into the Groom’s Cottage where, 34 years later and now retired, he and Maisie’s stepmother remain in residence as The Comfort of Ghosts commences.

An Avid Student and Remarkable Woman

Maisie desperately yearned for an education and, despite its resultant sleep deprivation, would sneak down to the Compton’s massive library to read. It was there she was discovered by Lady Rowan late one night. Instead of punishment or dismissal, this sensitive woman took an interest in the girl and introduced her to a family friend, Dr. Maurice Blanche, a scholar and imminent investigative consultant to Scotland Yard renowned for his scientific methods. He became her sponsor, educator, mentor and later, confidante and benefactor.

With her keen mind and endless curiosity, Maisie proved to be an intellectual sponge, devouring books and absorbing lectures before matriculating at Girton College, Cambridge. It was here she met and became lifelong friends with Priscilla who remains a prominent character throughout the series.

Maisie felt moved to quit school to enlist for nursing service in France soon after old friend Enid, while “doing her bit” for her country, was killed in a munitions factory accident. With hasty nursing training completed by early 1915, Maisie served valiantly in medical stations adjacent to the horrific battlefields of the Somme and Ypres. Thus she witnessed the gamut of wartime atrocities including the tragic loss of her first love and fiancé, a brilliant doctor who lost his mental faculties and ultimately his life on the front lines.

Returning home to London, the avid student resumed her studies while apprenticed to Dr. Blanche, studying his investigative methods and availing herself of his library. His general factotum Khan guided her in holistic yoga practices, training her in asanas (postures), breathing exercises and meditation. These ageless healing and calming techniques provided additional needed balance throughout her life. Although qualified as a psychologist, Maisie opened a one-person investigation bureau in 1929 with Billy Beale hired as an assistant. (The Beale Family comprises another set of important personages in the series.)

Resiliency During Europe’s Darkest Times

The subsequent seventeen novels maintain the excitement, riveting plots and historical accuracy. A companion work, What Would Maisie Do?, featuring period photographs, quotations and journaling, was published in 2019.

Maisie Dobbs is a remarkable woman, ever resilient, caring, steadfast, loyal and filled with optimism despite her great personal losses and the tragic events that befell those she most loves.

Despite setbacks and crushing blows, she has dedicated herself to social reforms aimed at the betterment of her countrymen. Scientific methods gleaned from her mentor coupled with strong intuition have enabled her to become a particularly effective investigator and secret agent as well as serving as protection for her safety in perilous situations. Far from being a cartoonish superhero, Maisie is a vulnerable and believable fully fleshed-out character.

The series takes the reader through some of England and Europe’s darkest times: World War I, the Spanish Civil War, Hitler’s not-so-secret annihilation of Jews and World War II, while sparing few details of the death, destruction, hardship and sacrifice made by both those in military service and the general populace.

Maisie’s travels abroad were unrelentingly fraught with danger. Along with countless others, she swore and adhered to the British Official Secrets Act for her espionage work and secret missions.

Jacqueline Winspear wrote in an essay titled “Little Miss Nosey and Her Research,” published in her newsletter in October, 2020:

I’m often asked how I go about the “research” for my writing, whether I’m working on a novel, an essay or short story, and the truth is research starts with asking questions; delving deep into a subject and then asking more questions — a process of inquiry that takes the writer on a journey of discovery. The challenge is in knowing when to stop, when enough is enough, though as far as I’m concerned, everything I gather is “inventory” for me to access at any time.

Connecting Threads That Address Many Issues

The Comfort of Ghosts expertly weaves together the connecting threads of the previous novels, reminding readers of the plot lines and essential characters, past and present. However, it is assuredly not limited to merely wrapping up with retrospective highlights.

Jacqueline Winspear has written a complex, multilayered plot firmly rooted in post-WWII England that in fact may stun her fans. Germany had unconditionally surrendered on V-E Day (Victory in Europe) on May 8, 1945 and it is now October. The celebrations were jubilant but war-torn England had been devastated by six years of war with long-term effects that would linger for decades.

The German bombing campaign known as “The Blitz” and subsequent V-1 and V-2 rocket attacks destroyed homes, businesses and places of worship leaving the country in shambles. It’s estimated over two million homes were damaged or destroyed in the United Kingdom leaving a significant portion of the population homeless in the immediate post-war period. Many children were orphaned. Sadly, demobilized returning veterans lacked the medical and psychological trauma care they required, much less financial support or assistance in securing housing and post-war employment.

The immense National Debt that had been necessarily incurred crippled recovery efforts. The UK was the last country to cease food rationing in 1954; clothing, gasoline and fuel also remained in short supply. Austerity programs were the norm for nearly a decade after the war. The Comfort of Ghosts addresses many of these staggering issues.

Unraveling the Mysteries of Her Past

Lord Julian Compton has recently passed away. His elderly widow, Lady Rowan, learning from her solicitor their unoccupied Belgravia home has been inhabited by squatters, requests her former daughter-in-law Maisie to investigate.

Visiting the property, she discovers four terrified teenage orphans who have fled the countryside orphanage after witnessing what appeared to be an execution-style murder on an adjacent estate. The victim was a high-level, well-connected Englishman who possessed a hidden room full of Nazi paraphernalia including swastika flags and autographed photographs of German leaders unmistakably betraying his political sympathies.

The two boys and two girls clearly fear for their own lives. They readily volunteer that a critically ill veteran who requires immediate attention is also sheltered there.

Maisie quickly identifies the man as Will, the eldest son of her partner Billy, who had been a POW in a Japanese prison camp in Burma. His physical wounds are indeed grievous but pale in comparison to the devastation of his nightmares and residual psychological scars. Most of his closest friends had died from starvation, despair and torture, or were simply murdered by brutal and capricious Japanese guards. Imagined whispers from his 3-year-old precious baby sister who had died suddenly from diphtheria when he was a young boy helped Will maintain his desire to survive.

In the midst of arranging for care for Will and sorting out the adolescents’ pressing problems of housing and appropriate supervision, Maisie also uncovers a pre-WWI mystery involving her husband James Compton who died in 1934.

A Happy Series Finale — and Perhaps More?

One will encounter familiar friends as well-loved characters appearing to play their parts in this soul-satisfying conclusion to one of the finest series ever written. Lingering ghosts have been laid to rest and Maisie has set in motion the resolution of the issues arising in this novel. One might assume her late mentor Dr. Maurice Blanche would have taken satisfaction with how well his student’s life has evolved.

By the final page of The Comfort of Ghosts, the mature 48-year-old Maisie is in her prime, alive and well, and about to embark on the rest of a presumably happy and perhaps less stressful life. She has indisputably earned the freedom to focus on her role as the wife of American Mark Scott, mother to their adopted 10-year-old daughter Anna, surrounded by family and friends while intending to continue her meaningful work as a psychologist and investigator.

In her most recent newsletter “Farewell to a Friend,” dated June, 2024, Jacqueline Winspear wrote:  I wish you well, Maisie Dobbs. You touched my heart and you changed my life. I’m off to Berlin later this year. Someone else has walked into my imagination. 

This reviewer eagerly anticipates making the acquaintance of her latest inspiration!

Please visit the well-maintained website of Jacqueline Winspear for information about books, news and events, and access to her archived newsletter/essays from 2010-2024. They include in-depth insights about her research methods, background and history, the evolution of the character and story development for several of the novels, and far more information than ever assembled in author interviews.