Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear (Maisie Dobbs)

Although I enjoy the Maisie Dobbs series and will continue to read these book, I must say this was not one of my favorite installments. 


This book takes Maisie deep into the world of mental health care in the early 1930s. A disenfranchised war veteran who is able to make chemical weapons is threatening to attack the entire city within a matter of days and has, inexplicably, mentioned Maisie Dobbs in the first of several threatening letters. When dead animals that have apparently been gassed begin to show up, the race against the clock becomes all the more urgent. 


Thus Maisie is brought under the umbrella of the Special Branch and MI-5 and even has a tete a tete with the PM, all while racing to save the city. 


There wasn't enough mystery, to put it bluntly. Although Winspear has, as always, thoroughly researched the time period and how mental health was administered, it was fairly obvious from the beginning what was going on. There is some good character/plot development with the Beales, however. 


Fans of the series will enjoy this book, as I did, but it may not be the most memorable of Maisie's adventures.