“The Mapping of Love and Death” by Jacqueline Winspear

Review # 103

A PI Maisie Dobbs Mystery

“Maisie Dobbs must unravel a case of wartime love and death--an investigation that leads her to a doomed affair between a young cartographer and a mysterious nurse"

The detective is employed by the parents of a soldier and cartographer, Michael Clifton, who fought during World War I. Missing for 16 years, the bodies of Clifton and his unit are discovered in France. The postmortem reveals that while the unit perished during a shelling attack, Clifton was already dead from a crushed skull. The only clues found with the body are the soldier's deteriorated journal and love letters to an unnamed nurse.

There's also the dilemma of the California land purchase, potentially lucrative, that Clifton made just before he enlisted. With no deed of sale or will apparent, the land is mired in legal entanglements. This case has long grown cold, but Maisie is too relentless an investigator to let it prevent her from bringing a murderer to justice.

At times, subplots involving socialite James Compton, a frustrated Maisie suitor, and the family problems of Maisie's assistant, Billy Beale, slow the pace.

As often happens in this series, the action builds to a somewhat sad if satisfying conclusion. A Good Read!