3 ⭐️

I really enjoyed the story. I do love good 40s setting. The author really pulled us in to the books world with out any issue.
I would recommend this book to anybody who wants nice and easy read

In the final Maisie Dobbs novel, we're in immediate post-war Britain, where life is extremely challenging, morale is low and the country is nearly bankrupt. There is a housing crisis due to so many houses being destroyed during the war.

As Maisie's former father-in-law, Sir Julian, is forced to give his house to the National Trust to avoid crippling death duties, he must find the money to go with this gift by selling his London house. Unfortunately this is complicated by the presence of squatters. When the suggestion is mooted to forcibly remove the squatters, Maisie steps in to resolve the issue peacefully. What she finds is a group of traumatised children who fear for their lives, and an unwell former PoW with ties to someone Maisie knows. So begins Maisie's final case.

It is a good read but with sadness running throughout as Jacqueline Winspear ties up loose ends, saying goodbye to her long-running series.

My thanks to the Author publisher's and NetGalley for providing me with a Kindle version of this book to read and honestly review.
This is the eighteenth book in The Maisie Dobbs series, and I am ashamed to say the first I have read, however it will not be the last. Quality writing and superb characterisation throughout, atmospheric clever descriptive intelligent storytelling with a real feel for time and place. As a somewhat grumpy sixty six year Yorkshireman I don't mind admitting towards the end this story brought a lump to my throat and tears to my eyes. Whilst there are numerous references to previous stories this book can be read standalone after all I did.
Completely and utterly recommended.

WW2 is over and Maisie has a ‘murder’ to solve, squatters to deal with. and a personal mystery to deal with. A fitting end to the Maisie Dodds series. She’ll be missed

In the final instalment of the internationally bestselling series, set in post-war London, psychologist-investigator Maisie Dobbs grapples with the aftermath of Luftwaffe bombings and the city's haunting ruins. When she investigates the plight of adolescent orphans and ailing soldier squatting in a Belgravia mansion, she uncovers a mystery linked to her late first husband, James Compton, who died while testing an experimental fighter. This deeply personal case leads her to a spectral figure tormented by wartime guilt. As Maisie delves into the truth, she confronts long-held beliefs and challenges her understanding of her own life.

A brilliant ending to this series which I throughly enjoyed. I haven't read many in this series and aim to do so. Hoping for more from this talented writer. My thanks to netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

The Comfort of Ghosts

To fully enjoy this latest and final Maisie Dobbs novel, I recommend reading both the Dedication and the Letter to Reader before moving on to the Prologue. This was not my favorite Maisie Dobbs, but I still found it enthralling. There were just too many story lines that didn’t align smoothly and familiar characters that were given what felt like cameo shots. Will definitely miss my almost yearly Maisie Dobbs novels.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.

An interesting book set in London in 1945, the war is over but life will never be the same again.

I did not realise when I requested this book that it was book 18 of a series of which I have read none so having read this one I think I need to see if I can find the other books so all the pieces will fit together and fall into place. Bu the book itself and the writing is wonderful and I did like the storyline. Just needed to be up with the last 20 years of this book series and it would have been so much better.

Thank you NetGalley and Allison & Busby for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Like many readers, I first met Maisie Dobbs twenty years ago. That, in itself, seems remarkable to me. Winspear has kept the series fresh over many books. Readers have watched Maisie develop and grow into herself. Watching Maisie evolve has always been one of the best parts of the books. The mysteries and depictions of war’s impact on people have also been well done.

I will miss Maisie, her husband, her daughter, Billy, Lady Compton and so many others. I hate to see the series end. However, all credit to Winspear for ending in such a satisfying way.

I am not giving much detail on the book. I want to leave that for the reader as they savor their final visit with Maisie. It has been quite a run!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Allison & Busby for this title. All opinions are my own.

The Final story about Maisie Dobbs, the eighteenth book was a triumphant end to a brilliant series. I just didn't want it to end .
1945. In London, it feels as if the peace is harder than the war. Years of devastating Luftwaffe bombing has obliterated stretches of the city and left others abandoned. Against this backdrop, psychologist-investigator Maisie Dobbs is drawn into the plight of a group of adolescent orphans, along with a gravely ill demobbed soldier who are squatting in a Belgravia mansion.


Maisie's attempt to help brings to light a decades-old mystery concerning her first husband, James Compton, who was killed while flying an experimental fighter aircraft. The deeply personal investigation leads her to a ghostly figure who is grappling with the weight of his own conscience and the outcome of the part he played during the war.


This final instalment in the internationally bestselling series will challenge so much of what Maisie understands about her life and forces her to question what she has always accepted to be true.
I hope that the author Jacqueline Winspear continues writing, perhaps another series about the second World War as she has so much more to give. I strongly recommend this book and the earlier seventeen books that preceded it.
Many thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the ARC.

‘The Comfort of Ghosts’ is a triumphant finish to a beloved series. Yes, unfortunately, this is the final Maisie Dobbs book and I am seriously bereft that this is the end. This has been a very special series for me as I found it whilst I was attending university studying the interwar period and in particular women’s role in society. I feel as if I have grown alongside Maisie, suffered heartbreak and loss but found love and joy in life. In particular, I loved the more spiritual aspects of the book, the meditations that Maurice taught Maisie etc. It made their characters unique, nuanced and very relatable as I was brought up as a Buddhist.

A long way of saying I adore this series and in a way, I didn't want to pick this book up as I didn't want it to be over. But this book is one for the long-term fans, those who have been there from the start as its reflective air means we travel back through the strands of narrative that the author has weaved over the course of 18 books. Set right at the end of the Second World War when a lot of people will have been reminiscing over their lives before this conflict, the war that came before and shaped so many of their lives. Maisie is one of these and the book is more about how the past shapes us, moulds us and ultimately makes us stronger. Of course, there are mysteries to boot but this is a book that is definitely the equivalent of someone getting their affairs in order. And what an affair that has been!

The Comfort of Ghosts is the eighteenth – and final – book in the author’s Maisie Dobbs series. As such it’s partly a curtain call for many of the characters readers have encountered over the previous seventeen books. There are references to past events which would make it possible to read it as a standalone but I’d really recommend devouring the series from the beginning.

The ‘ghosts’ of the title are also very much present: people lost in the war, those who survived but are changed forever and those who must live with the consequences of their actions. And the evidence of the war is all around in damaged buildings, damaged people and a country deep in debt. ‘We’ll all be happy to leave the war and get on with the peace, such as it is, but it’ll be a good long time before it lets go of us, won’t it?’

If there’s a theme to the book, it’s change. For some it’s enforced change because of what they have gone through, for others it’s new opportunities at home or abroad. And the country is changing too, such as the establishment of the National Health Service and the building of new homes with modern amenities.

What hasn’t changed is that Maisie can’t resist getting involved in a mystery nor can she ignore the plight of people in peril. Bringing together the analytical skills learned from her deceased mentor, her trusted team of helpers and her admirable powers of persuasion, she seeks to get to the bottom of a mysterious death that no-one seems to want investigated. In the process she is forced to confront memories of her own personal tragedies but also to recognise the good fortune that has come her way: a loving husband and daughter, and a close-knit circle of family and friends.

I thought The Comfort of Ghosts was a beautifully balanced blend of heartbreak and hope for the future, and the perfect end to a wonderfully entertaining series.

WWII has ended and Britain faces an uncertain future, broke and with the population dealing with rationing and, for many, homelessness. Grieving over the death of Lord Julian Compton, a man who has been an important influence in her life, Maisie Dobbs offers to help his wife to straighten out affairs including the sale of his London home to help cover death taxes. However, she discovers four young people and a very ill soldier squatting there. The youngsters are obviously very frightened and soon, Maisie finds herself embroiled in war secrets best left alone.

The Comfort of Ghosts is the 18th and, sadly, the final novel in the Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear. The mystery was intriguing but it was really the backdrop to ending the series with a look at Britain’s future as well as Maisie’s past, her adventures, her loves, and many of the people she has known along the way. There is also a solution to an old mystery providing a satisfyingly hopeful end to the series.

Thanks to Netgalley and Allison and Busby for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review

I had to say goodbye to Maisie Dobbs and read this last novel which is an emotional rollercoaster that kept me hooked and guessing.
A great last novel, an invitation to start reading this series from the start again.
Loved it and highly recommended unless you never read anything in this series.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

And so we come to Maisie Dobb's final outing, and I find I have read fewer of this series than I imagined, what delights await me when I go back , almost to the beginning to read books 2, 3, 4, 11, and 17 I wonder?

WW2 has ended and Britain is on the brink of bankruptcy with hordes of people made homeless by the Blitz and thousands of soldiers returning home, many with physical and mental injuries. Lord Julian Compton has died, but his Belgravia mansion is occupied by squatters and cannot therefore be sold to pay death duties. Maisie volunteers to fix the problem rather than bother Lord Julian's widow Lady Rowan. However, when she reaches the mansion she discovers the squatters are in fact four children, who seem terrified of the police, and a very sick man. Uncovering the truth about these children and what they saw forms the main mystery of this book.

But the mystery is really just an aside to the main thrust of the novel which canters through Maisie's past, touching on lost loves, friends, mentors, and secrets. Jacqueline Winspear also manages to deftly weave the birth of the NHS, the Burma death marches, the atomic bomb, the wanton destruction of many beautiful London properties by the London Council, the plight of orphans, the treatment of mental health issues, and the hypocrisy of the way society used to treat unmarried mothers, into the narrative without getting on a soap box or slowing the narrative. It's not without its flaws, there is at least one occasion where the reader is given a quick reminder of something that happened in the past, only for a very similar reminder to be given a few chapters later, and also I still can't really say I like Mark Scott he's all a bit 'I want, I want, I want'.

However, minor gripes aside, this is a superb finale to a wonderful series that has taken us from 1929 to 1945 but also with flashbacks to WW1 and Maisie's childhood.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

If you have ever read a Jacqueline Winspear, Maisie Dobbs book, you definitely have to read this, if you have never read a Maisie Dobbs, you still have to read this, in fact if you have ever read a book before you definitely have to read this book!!

This is the last adventure for Maisie and Co, and what a way to go out. The war is over but there is still work to be done, people to be looked after and helped, plus we have the issue of four squatters in a house which belongs to Lord Julian and Lady Rowan which Maisie needs to investigate.

Beautifully written, the words literally flowed around as I read this book, absolutely loved it.

It makes a nice change to have a series of books actually finish, rather than just trail off or stop completely.

Highly recommended. Thank you Jacqueline for the hours of pleasure you gave me with these books

It’s difficult for fans of the series to realise this is the 18th, and final, book in the life of private investigator and all round good egg Maisie Dobbs. Readers will have been at Maise’s side during personal loss, romantic gain and career highs and lows. In her final case that we’ll read, it’s 1945 and the peace that everyone is experiencing is more fraught and more difficult than the last six years of war. Maisie meets a group of adolescent orphans, old before their time, whose lives are surprisingly linked to Ms Dobbs. Her adopted daughter wants a pony, her husband wants a home of their own while her best friend is in need of support and hope. Oh, and there’s a decades-old mystery pertaining to her first husband to solve. All in all, a cracking finale though I’ll be sad to say goodbye to Maise.

I'm sad this is the last Maisie Dobbs book. I have enjoyed the series over the years and seeing Maisie and all her friends and family evolve and grow over the years.
In this final instalment WW2 is over and the peace looks like it is going to be as hard as the war.
Maisie is tasked with resolving a issue of squatters who have set up home in the Compton's London home. She discovers four terrified children hiding out. With them is a recently demobbed shell shocked soldier. Maisie sets her mind to finding out what the children are frightened of and who the young man is.
She unearths a death no one is talking about and the Beale's eldest son Will is living with the consequences of of being a POW in a Japanese camp and on the Burma railway. All the strings start to come together and a resolution is found to get both the squatters and Will taking small steps to adapt to peace time living. There is one final twist from Maisies past and that of her first husband, James which brings a new strand to the family.
A satisfying conclusion to an enjoyable series.

Book 17, A Sunlit Weapon, saw Maisie in the thick of World War II, beginning in October 1942. The Comfort of Ghosts skips ahead a few years to 1945, just after the end of the war. As much as we would have loved to see a few more books squeezed into the wartime years, it feels right to see the series ending just as the UK begins picking up the pieces after the war.

The mystery begins when four adolescent orphans, each bearing the scars of a dark wartime history, are found squatting in a vacant Belgravia mansion whose owners had fled during The Blitz. As a psychologist and investigator, Maisie visits the mansion on behalf of the owners and discovers a gravely ill demobilized soldier who's still reeling from his harrowing experiences in a Japanese POW camp. Her efforts to help them will ultimately lead her back to an unsolved mystery from her own past, leading her to question many things she thought she knew.

This fitting finale to the series not only opens new horizons for Maisie and her family but also encapsulates the struggles of the era as the entire nation worked to restore those things that war destroyed. It's everything one would want from a Maisie Dobbs novel, but it's also bittersweet knowing this is likely the final installment.

Overall, it's a wonderful read. It highlights her intelligence and kindness, it gives us closure for the characters we've come to know and love, and it hints at where her life will go in the future. If you have to end a much-loved series, this is the way to do it.

This feels like the end of an era. The last Maisie Dobbs book. I have read all the the books and have come to see Maisie as a friend. I will miss her wisdom. The stories have always been highly original and well crafted/descriptive. This last story is well researched and beautifully written as always. I hope the author continues to write, perhaps with a new character?