While I am sorry that there won't be further Maisie Dobbs stories, I have appreciated and loved reading about her life and exploits. She was a modern woman who changed with the times and I felt empowered as woman to do my best in my own life.

It's 1945-- the war has just ended, though there are many problems still in Britain. Maisie learns that some squatters have moved into the Compton residence in London. They are four teens from an orphanage who had been recruited to help the government during the war. There is also a veteran, a former Japanese POW, living there, and he is someone Maisie knows well. She sets about to help these people with the assistance of her friend Priscilla, and also learns a disturbing secret about her late husband's past. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This is the final volume in the Maisie Dobbs series. It’s sad to come to the end of her adventures but Winspear does a lovely job of finishing it up. It’s 1945, Maisie is settling in nicely to her life in the country as a mother and wife. But some cases pop up. Billy’s son has returned for the war but has not come home. He is missing. Maisie secretly begins the process of tracking him down. Additionally, while checking on the London house, she encounters a group of squatters. These are unusual squatters. They are four frightened young adults with interesting skills. And there is a revelation about Maisie’s first husband.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing an eGalley of this title.

A very solid and satisfying end to a great series. I'm sorry to see Maisie go, but excited to see where Winspear takes her talents next.

Thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to view an ARC!

Most of the series I love are ending, and it's making me sad. I enjoyed the final Maisie Dobbs book, but it was a but uneven for me. It kicks off nearly a year after D-Day, and Britain is still under rationing and struggling with the aftermath of the bombings as well as widespread homelessness. When Lord Julian dies, Maisie helps Lady Rowan deal with the estate and subsequently needs to deal with squatters in the Ebery Place Mansion. That kicks off Maisie's investigation. It isn't really much of a mystery and pretty much concludes a bit more than halfway through the book, when the focus seems to shift to really wrapping up the series more neatly than I think it needed. The story might have been stronger without the last third of the book, but I know many readers will want to know how things turn out for all the characters they've read about for twenty years.

What a send off to my favorite literary character. Another great book about Maisie and her friends and a beautiful way to end the series. She will be missed but looking forward to many more books by the author. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher!

Jacqueline Winspear's The Comfort of Ghosts delivers a poignant mystery in the aftermath of WWII. In this last installment in the Maisie Dobbs series, Maisie has two mysteries to solve, and one of them is very personal to her. The overarching theme is dealing with loss: the loss of loved ones, the loss of the life that once was, the loss of home, and the loss innocence. Maisie relies on the teachings of Maurice Blanche, her deceased mentor, to navigate all of this loss, not only for herself, but for those whom she loves. Even though the plot is filled with the "ghosts" of the past, this is in no way a morbid or gloomy tale. Rather, it has Maisie, her family, and her friends and associates looking hopefully and expectantly towards the future, the future of their own making. Maisie Dobbs fans will find this a satisfying read.

The last entry in the Maise Dobbs series was not so much of a mystery as it was a “final accounting” of the entire series. As always, the plot was well-grounded in historical context and it wrapped up loose ends for the many characters I’ve enjoyed reading about throughout the 18 entries. A very satisfying end to the series.

This was a beautiful and satisfying conclusion to a brilliant historical mystery series.

I have read and enjoyed every book in this series. Winspear has created a cast of rich characters with intricate webs of relationships between them. These people and their connections are woven throughout the 18 (very good) mystery books and that makes them even better.

Winspear is a master of pacing and plotting. Maisie’s character growth throughout the series and particularly in this final volume is profound.

This last story acts as a bit of a denouement for the whole series, wrapping up loose ends I wasn’t even aware existed. As Maurice and Maisie would call it, “A final accounting.”

I loved it. ❤️

This is the eighteenth and final installment in the popular Maisie Cobbs series and it is as good as ever. It's 1945, the war is over and the aftermath is a combination of joyful, horrific and challenging. Maisie, now married and happily living in the country has reduced her practice in London but takes on several cases. There's a lot going on here, all of it interesting. It's a great finish to the thirty years of Maisie Cobbs. And who knows, another may follow after a bit.

I was able to read this title thanks to NetGalley. I always look forward to reading the latest Maisie Dobbs book, I am so sad that is will be the last. It ja now 1945, after V-J Day. Maisie is pulled into a case involving a soldier coming home, and 4 orphan children. While she is wrapping up this case, another case pops up. This case is so much closer to home. I will say that this book does wrap up many character story lines, and leaves Maisie in a fantastic place. I hope Jacqueline Winspear will revisit Maisie Dobbs someday in the future.

The war is finally over - the second world war to shape Maisie Dobbs and her career as a psychologist and investigator - but the peace offers new challenges. The government has no money to rebuild, the city of London needs housing after the sustained bombing campaigns, and the social order is fraying.

Four orphans have taken up residence in Maisie's wealthy patron's London home, scrounging for food and hiding from some unnamed danger. When Maisie encounters them, and decides to help (because, after all, she's Masie) she begins to untangle a complicated web of lies, spies, and eventually murder. In the meantime, Billy's son has returned from the Burma Road, near death but reluctant to go home, knowing his father also suffers the psychological and physical scars of war. And then there's the man who opens the book, carrying some deep wound from wartime, along with the fear that a new form of warfare hangs over the world.

This is a busy book with a lot of ground to cover. Not only does Maisie investigate a murder that is shrouded in state secrecy and entangled with Nazi sympathizers, she has to help her circle of friends and family members to overcome their problems, all while she plans for a future with her American diplomat husband, her adopted daughter, and the dowager who adopted her as a young servant. The thread tying it all together, a thread running through the series, is the destructiveness of war and the long-lasting psychological toll it takes, redeemed by Maisie's belief that kindness and care can go a long way toward healing.

Maisie and the circle of people around her will be missed, but I'm looking forward to wherever the author decides to take her talents next.

I have been reading the Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear since the first book was released in 2008. When I heard The Comfort of Ghosts would be the last book in the series, I knew reading it would be a bittersweet experience - and I wasn't wrong. Characters from throughout the series appear in this book and there are numerous references to previous plot lines. Winspear did a great job of making this a full-circle moment: Maisie Dobbs in the first book was a young women facing her future at the end of a world war; Maisie Dobbs in this book is a middle-aged woman learning to relish her present at the end of another world war.

The Comfort of Ghosts focuses less on a mystery that needs to be solved and more on relationships important in Maisie's life, but it's exactly what's needed for the final book in the series. I hope someday we'll have a glimpse of Maisie Dobbs again - perhaps in the 1960s!

Thank you to Jacqueline Winspear for the 18 wonderful Maisie Dobbs books. They enriched my reading experience over many years!

Thanks too to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC; all opinions expressed are my own.

The last book in this series is a fitting send-off for the beloved character Maisie Dobbs. All her family, friends and colleagues are present and accounted for with a surprise unexpected addition. I’m sad to see this series end but it’s been a great ride.

This is the last story of a superb series. While bittersweet to be sure, author Winspear has beautifully wrapped up the long journeys of our beloved characters, while giving readers a thoughtful mystery to explore.

A most satisfactory goodbye. Thank you! The adjectives most often used in this series remain here - exquisite, thoughtful, and exciting!

A good addition to close out this longstanding series. There were lots of storylines to tie up, and Winspear handles this nicely without sacrificing a good plot.

I’m thrilled to read the latest Maisie Dobbs and hoping it isn’t the last one. The joy of the series are all the characters, the research and the escape into another period, which Winspear has populated beautifully. Another winning installment.

I usually don't tear up when reading a mystery, but I have come to know Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs quite well over the years. As Ms Winspear has announced, " The Comfort of Ghosts" will be the last book in the Maisie Dobbs series, and perhaps it is her best.
We have followed Maisie through her early years as a below stairs maid of Lord & Lady Compton, through her growth and educational successes. And we have been with her during World War One, and World War II. We have watched as she made friends and lost them, and her marriages with both happy and sad consequences.
Jacqueline Winspear has done a remarkable job gathering all the threads of this series and presenting us with an excellent read as we watch everything come together. Don't miss this one!
I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this mystery/romance/historical fiction book.

Finishing the Comfort of Ghosts is like saying goodbye to a dear friend. I will miss Jacqueline Winspear's long-running exemplary blend of historical fiction and mystery series. Her incredible attention to detail and her ability to interweave historical events into each Maisie Dobbs novel created a beloved series that will be well remembered and often re-read.

I was both sad and excited to read the next and last installment of the Maisie Dobbs series, but also respect the author for knowing when it is time to stop! Many of the side characters feature in this book as well so their stories can be wrapped up (or at least resolution and happy endings are hinted at).

The mystery in this book was a bit more ambiguous than some of the cases in previous books, as it was more focused on the welfare and safety of certain characters than actual resolving what happened, but the reader does get to find out all the relevant details in the end. I felt that there was less investigation and unraveling of this mystery as compared to previous ones since there was so much reckoning with past stories and wrapping up of other characters' lives to do. However, it was a proper ending to the series, which I appreciated. I'm not sure how it would fare as a stand alone read, so do recommend that you read the rest of the series first/in order.