An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear
Maisie Dobbs #5
Genre: Mystery, Historical Fiction
Length: 9 Hours and 18 minutes
Narrator: Orlagh Cassidy
Source: eLibrary
Description:
Maisie Dobbs travels to Kent to investigate, among other things, a series of fires, a family of Dutch bakers who were killed during WWI in a zeppelin attack and the theft of some silver. Hop-picking has brought everyone to the area, from Londoners to Gypsies. Orlagh Cassidy, who also read Messenger of Truth, not only captures a range of London and Kentish accents, but she also individualizes even the most minor characters. The lilt of a Danish luthier is perfect, and the dozen or so villagers interviewed by Dobbs have their own rhythms of speech and tone. Cassidy's rendition of Roma words comes across as authentic. This engrossing mystery will be hard to put down, and the listener will be sad when the final, lively strains of a fiddle are heard.
My Rating: 
.My Review:
I didn't have a great experience when I read Messenger of Truth, which was number four in the Maisie Dobbs series. I had heard so many great things, that I decided I had to give another one a try and I'm so glad that I did.
Business is slow for Maisie and she's quite happy when work starts trickling in to distract her from a personal loss. However, what seemed like a simple job turns into quite a bit of mystery and things aren't as they seem (not surprising to us). Over a span of time Maisie puts all the pieces together well before the reader and slowly unveils the truth which is quite surprising.
On the story...
While I wasn't intrigued from the very beginning, I soon fell into the story. Many of the complaints I had in the previous book concerning Maisie's attitude isn't present here. The story started off a bit slow for me but when I recognized the bizarre circumstances I became hooked. There are many characters and many repeats. I didn't start from book one so I think that it's possible to jump in at any time with this series. There is mention of previous events but it isn't such a big deal. Honestly, I found the ending to be so beyond anything I ever expected, it left me thinking quite a bit.
On the narrator...
Ms. Cassidy did a great job with this audio but I'm not sure I would recommend the audio version for other reasons. Ms. Cassidy easily took on the varying accents and her voice gave the characters personality. But there are quite a bit of details in this mystery and many many characters. I think it just might be simpler and easier to read just in case you forget something and want to flip back
Overall...
I'm glad that I didn't give up on this series because this story was very entertaining. My advice? Read the back of the book and pick up a book where the actual mystery interests you. Otherwise the unveiling could take some time and if you aren't interested in the subject it might drag.
