Books Reviews

The Mapping of Love and Death – Book Review

By Angela Youngman Dec 12, 2011, 15:42 GMT

August 1914. As Michael Clifton is mapping land he has just purchased in California\'s beautiful Santa Ynez Valley, war is declared in Europe-and duty-bound to his father\'s native country, the young cartographer soon sets sail for England to serve in the British army. Three years later, he is listed as missing in action. April 1932. After Michael\'s remains are unearthed in France, his parents retain London psychologist ...more

American cartographer Michael Clifton has just discovered a rich source of oil and purchased the site.  Hearing that war has been declared, he feels compelled to cross the Atlantic to serve in the British army.  Inevitably, this leads to his death. 

It is not until 1932 that his body is discovered and it immediately raises some rather nasty questions.  Did he really die in battle - or was it murder?  And what has happened to the land deeds he acquired? When Maisie Dobbs is recruited to try and track down the unnamed nurse whose love letters were found among his belongings, she finds herself unwittingly caught up in a much larger drama. Clifton's parents are attacked and left for dead in a London hotel. 

Clearly, there is more than one query that has to be answered.  The chase is on - can Maisie and her assistant solve the mysteries before they themselves come under attack?  With the death of Maisie's long term mentor at the very end of the book, there come hints that changes may be underway and that Maisie's future may be very different.  I look forward to finding out what happens next in this well written crime series.