Jacqueline Winspear

As a young child, Jacqueline Winspear saw the effects of World War I on her grandfather. These early impressions may have left imprints on her young mind and have now emerged as mystery novels set in the post-World War I years. The earlier books evoke a sadness that is not so heavy in the later books.
The first novel, Maisie Dobbs, sets the stage for future books. It is more of a psychological mystery in that Maisie searches for understanding of how people's minds think. The second novel, Birds of a Feather, she sets up her agency and takes on an assistant, Billy Beale. They solve the mystery of a pilot's death in Pardonable lies and investigate the mysterious death of a controversial artist and World War I venteran in Messenger of Truth.
Jacqueline Winspear was born in Kent, England but has made her home in California since 1990. She won the Agatha Award for Best Novel in 2004 for Birds of a Feather, and she has been nominated for Best Novel for her other books.
Her fifth novel, An Incomplete Revenge, is expected to be published in early 2008.