Leaving Everything Most Loved

Maisie Dobbs, Book 10

By: Jacqueline Winspear

Narrated by: Orlagh Cassidy

Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

In Leaving Everything Most Loved by New York Times best-selling author Jacqueline Winspear, Maisie Dobbs investigates the murder of Indian immigrants in London.

The year is 1933. Maisie Dobbs is contacted by an Indian gentleman who has come to England in the hopes of finding out who killed his sister two months ago. Scotland Yard failed to make any arrest in the case, and there is reason to believe they failed to conduct a thorough investigation. The case becomes even more challenging when another Indian woman is murdered just hours before a scheduled interview. Meanwhile, unfinished business from a previous case becomes a distraction, as does a new development in Maisie's personal life.

Bringing a crucial chapter in the life and times of Maisie Dobbs to a close, Leaving Everything Most Loved marks a pivotal moment in this outstanding mystery series.

©2013 Jacqueline Winspear (P)2013 HarperCollins Publishers

always interesting

What made the experience of listening to Leaving Everything Most Loved the most enjoyable?

a wide range of characters appear and many are wonderful people. The challenges which each must overcome are of universal interest.

What did you like best about this story?

Although crimes and solving them are the basis for each story, one does not end the story with a sense of overall gloom or terror.

What does Orlagh Cassidy bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

the wonderful accents of the characters in the story.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

sorry....I have none!

Any additional comments?

I'm always waiting for the next title in this series!

Good characters; good story; good narrator

Where does Leaving Everything Most Loved rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I really enjoyed this book. It started off with a good mystery, but in solving the crime, our heroine revealed much about life in London following WW1 and leading up to WW2. I had never read a Jacqueline Winspear before, but I am really glad I found her.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Massie Dobbs was my favorite character because she was smart, kind, gracious, and independent. And she was good at her job. I am looking forward to my next encounter with Massie Dobbs.

Have you listened to any of Orlagh Cassidy’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This was my first experience with Oriagh Cassidy's narration. She's excellent. I have no complaints.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I would have listened to it all in one sitting, but there's never enough time for that.

Any additional comments?

I recommend it. It was definitely my cup of tea.

Another GEM!

For Masie fans this book does not disappoint. What I really enjoy about this series is that the author doesn't sensationalize with gory details, yet crafts a well thought out mystery plot. She is wonderful at describing the most routine daily life details of this time period, both for the upper and lower classes. I enjoy the fact that over the series of books Maisie is evolving emotionally, confronting her own demons and becoming more self aware. I love the narrator!

Great Series

Ms. Winspear gets better with each new book. No. 10 is a great one in the series. Can't wait to see what new adventures Maisie Dobb's finds herself in next. Love this era, 1930's in England.

Leaving One Wondering

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

JW's books about the life and times of Maisie Dobbs are both insightful and entertaining. I have especially enjoyed the character development throughout the series, not only of Maisie but of those with whom she works, loves and investigates. One example of this is found in Maisie's efforts to help her friend Pricilla discover what happened to her brother, MIA in WWI, which leads to the discovery of a niece that Pricilla didn't know existed. The emotional insight given to this event is very moving and indicative of JW's ability to draw the reader into the to the story.
In this tenth book about Maisie it seems that the mystery isn't as important as the movement going on in Maisie's life. In one sense this book is about closure. As Maisie turns a corner in her life what happens to those characters with whom we readers have become so involved? What's going on in her life that so deeply motivates her to take the actions she is apparently taking? Is Maisie going to return or is her sailing off to India also her sailing out of everything we have come to love and expect from the life and times of Maisie Dobbs? She is certainly leaving one wondering.

Any additional comments?

In my opinion Orlaugh Cassidy is the perfect narrator for this series. That may be because it is easy for the mind to picture the character's in this series and add to the subtle changes of voice that Orlaugh is so good at presenting in the dialogue.
I suspect that it is best to start this series in the order it is written. That being said I would add that this tenth addition to the series can be seen as a teaser for all that has gone before since it harkens back to some of the major events that have defined who Maisie has become in her journey from a motherless child put in service to the force of character she has become.

Maisie Dobbs

I really love these Maisie Dobbs mysteries. This one has a good story, but I found myself waiting for the shoe to fall. That made it a it harder to concentrate on the story.
Still very good though

Lots of twists and turns...

This seems to be Maisie Dobbs' most complicated case so far. There are a lot of moving parts and a lot to remember. I love Jacqueline Winspear's ability to create a scene where you actually feel like you are there...a fly on the wall, so to speak. I have only one dislike about Maisie's character and that is her lack of regard for James Compton. She is so guarded that she leads him around like a puppy and he let's her because of his love for her. She better not hurt James! I won't love her anymore.

My favorite in the series so far!

“Leaving Everything” is my favorite in the series so far which so many layers of wisdom to be gleaned even though the story is set in another time. But then again, I’m finding I feel the same with each book I finish! Each one takes me deeper into Maisie’s world and this one was no exception. I’m becoming quite attached to all the main characters in the stories and even those who are part of only the current book I’m listening to. Osha (not sure how it’s spelled since I’m only listening and not reading) was such a compelling character in this book that I was sad to say goodbye by the end.

I also want to give a shout out to Orlagh Cassidy as narrator of the series. A perfect story teller as most of the voice accents in the book are astoundingly believable. And of course as Maisie’s voice she is a perfect fit! I wouldn’t want to hear her from anyone else now!

Really like it, with a caveat

I basically enjoy the Maisie Dobbs series--and this book is no exception. It is one of several series which focus on the new ways women were able to establish themselves in the world in more meaningful ways just after WWI. I am really glad to see these book celebrating the exciting changes in women's lives and the newfound respect they were gaining.

That said, despite that I have always enjoyed the mysteries (the plots) of this series, I've found it a bit of a leap to handle the rags-to-riches, Cinderella type story that Winspear has created for Maisie Dobbs' background. She's gone from being a housemaid in a wealthy household at age 13, to being noticed and selected by them to get a fabulous education at Cambridge (which would have been available to few women yet at that time) to inheriting a fortune from her mentor in psychology and detecting...to possibly now considering marrying the son of the wealthy household she began in. While I really like the complicated plots that come with every one of these books, I find it hard to juggle good stories that are about solving mysteries with fantasy romance.

And so, this is still a good story. Maisie is approached by Scotland Yard--to her surprise, to take on a case they have not been able to solve. It seems that the brother of the murdered woman, Usha Pramal, has come from India to England to try to find out who killed his sister and why. Maisie is intrigued and takes the case. Before she scarcely gets into it, yet another woman is also murdered, and she is doubly determined to find the killer.

This book invites the reader, in a very positive way I think--to consider issues of diversity and how people tend to regard those who seem different to them (for instance, it would seem that Scotland Yard didn't give this case as much attention as they might have, had the murdered woman been English instead of Indian). It is also good because it supplies a large number of potential suspects, and kept me guessing till the end who the killer had been. But it was complicated by Maisie's personal life--a number of changes she is making that leave the reader wondering where this series might be heading. Perhaps that is the skill of the author--to be able to move the series in different directions, but I was not terribly comfortable. I'm old. I like things to be as I expect them :-) However, like everyone else, I will wait with interest to see where Maisie finds herself in the next book--and I'm sure the story will be fun to read.

I did leave Europe and every one I loved.

I found this book reflecting my emotions 34 years ago. I left Europe to Africa because my fiance's murder made it impossible for me to stay still