Jacqueline Winspear Books in Order
Jacqueline Winspear is a New York Times bestselling British author best known for the Maisie Dobbs historical mystery series. The 18 novels follow a former First World War nurse who opens an investigation agency in London in 1929, then continue through the end of the Second World War. The first novel, Maisie Dobbs, won the Agatha, Macavity and Alex awards. The final book, The Comfort of Ghosts, won the 2025 Sue Grafton Memorial Award, and Jacqueline Winspear received the Malice Domestic Lifetime Achievement Award in 2026.
In the Maisie Dobbs books, the cases she picks up to solve often lead back to something that happened during the First or Second World War. Maisie has to work out what people went through, what they lost and why the truth was hidden.
This page lists all Jacqueline Winspear books in order, including the Maisie Dobbs series, standalone historical novels, companion books, nonfiction and anthology contributions.
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Upcoming Releases
- Charlie Bright (March 2, 2027)
Where to Start with Jacqueline Winspear
→ New to Jacqueline Winspear? Start with Maisie Dobbs. The book begins in 1929 and also tells Maisie’s earlier story as a servant, student and wartime nurse.
→ Read the Maisie Dobbs novels in publication order. Each book has its own main case, but Maisie’s life and her relationships change steadily throughout all 18 novels.
→ Prefer a standalone First World War novel? Try The Care and Management of Lies, which follows a Kent farming family after Britain joins the war.
→ Prefer postwar suspense books? The White Lady follows former wartime operative Elinor White in England in 1947. Charlie Bright, due in March 2027, follows a British war bride in San Francisco during the same year. The books are independent.
Maisie Dobbs Series (Books in Order)
The Maisie Dobbs series follows Maisie Dobbs, a working-class girl who enters service at thirteen and is given the chance to continue her education. Later, she studies to become a nurse and serves in France during the First World War. By spring 1929, when the first book begins, she has just opened her own London investigation agency, working as a psychologist and private investigator in London, after taking over from her mentor, Dr. Maurice Blanche, who retired. Former soldier Billy Beale becomes her assistant.
Maisie herself says she is a psychologist and investigator. She listens closely to people, studies what they do as well as what they say, and often finds that the case in front of her has already a much earlier starting point, beginning years earlier during wartime.
Each mystery has its own solution, but the books also follow Maisie’s life through 1945. The Comfort of Ghosts is the eighteenth and final novel. Publication order is strongly recommended because the personal story continues from book to book.
Reading Order
- Maisie Dobbs, 2003
- Birds of a Feather, 2004
- Pardonable Lies, 2005
- Messenger of Truth, 2006
- An Incomplete Revenge, 2008
- Among the Mad, 2009
- The Mapping of Love and Death, 2010
- A Lesson in Secrets, 2011
- Elegy for Eddie, 2012
- Leaving Everything Most Loved, 2013
- A Dangerous Place, 2015
- Journey to Munich, 2016
- In This Grave Hour, 2017
- To Die But Once, 2014
- The American Agent, 2019
- The Consequences of Fear, 2021
- A Sunlit Weapon, 2022
- The Comfort of Ghosts, 2024
Maisie Dobbs Companion Books
- What Would Maisie Do?: Inspiration from the Pages of Maisie Dobbs, 2019
- Maisie Dobbs: A Mysterious Profile, 2022
Standalone Novels
- The Care and Management of Lies, 2015
- The White Lady, 2022
- Charlie Bright, 2027
Short Story Anthologies
- Private Investigations, 2020
Non-Fiction Books
Jacqueline Winspear Biography
Jacqueline Winspear is a British author of historical mysteries. She created the Maisie Dobbs series and has also written standalone novels, short stories and a memoir.
jacquelinewinspear.com
Jacqueline Winspear was born and raised in Kent, England. She studied at the University of London’s Institute of Education, then worked in academic publishing, higher education and sales and marketing communications in Britain. She moved to the United States in 1990, where she began working as a professional and personal coach. During this time, she began writing articles about international education and travel for publications including The Washington Post.
Her interest in the First World War began with her own family. She grew up knowing how badly her grandfather had been affected by his wartime service. He had been wounded, gassed and shell-shocked at the Battle of the Somme in 1916, and she saw that the war remained part of his life decades later. That family history became important when she began writing about the people who returned from the war and had to find their own place in ordinary life again.
Her first novel, Maisie Dobbs, was published in 2003. It introduced a former wartime nurse who becomes a psychologist and investigator in London. The book won the Agatha Award for Best First Novel, the Macavity Award for Best First Mystery Novel and a 2004 Alex Award. The series itself became an internationally bestselling and award-winning historical mystery series.
Jacqueline Winspear continued Maisie’s life over18 novels. The story moves from the aftermath of the First World War through the political changes of the 1930s and into the Second World War. She ended the series in 2024 with The Comfort of Ghosts.
She has also written three standalone novels, The Care and Management of Lies, The White Lady and the upcoming Charlie Bright. Her nonfiction books includes the memoir This Time Next Year We’ll Be Laughing.
Jacqueline Winspear Book Adaptations
- Maisie Dobbs series – optioned by HiddenLight Productions for film and television adaptation (2021)
Jacqueline Winspear Awards and Honors
Awards
- Maisie Dobbs – Agatha Award for Best First Novel (2003)
- Maisie Dobbs – Macavity Award for Best First Mystery Novel (2004)
- Maisie Dobbs – Alex Award (2004)
- Birds of a Feather – Agatha Award for Best Novel (2004)
- Pardonable Lies – Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Mystery, Macavity Awards (2006)
- The Mapping of Love and Death – Bruce Alexander Memorial Historical Mystery Award (2011)
- The Comfort of Ghosts – G.P. Putnam’s Sons Sue Grafton Memorial Award (2025)
- Malice Domestic Lifetime Achievement Award (2026)
Nominations and Shortlists
- Maisie Dobbs – Anthony Award for Best First Novel (2004)
- Maisie Dobbs – Anthony Award for Best Historical Mystery (2004)
- Maisie Dobbs – Barry Award for Best First Novel (2004)
- Maisie Dobbs – Dilys Award (2004)
- Maisie Dobbs – Edgar Award for Best Novel (2004)
- Birds of a Feather – Dilys Award (2005)
- Birds of a Feather – Bruce Alexander Memorial Mystery Award, Left Coast Crime (2005)
- Pardonable Lies – Agatha Award for Best Novel (2005)
- Pardonable Lies – Bruce Alexander Memorial Mystery Award, Left Coast Crime (2006)
- Messenger of Truth – Agatha Award for Best Novel (2006)
- Messenger of Truth – Sue Feder Historical Mystery Award, Macavity Awards (2007)
- Among the Mad – Sue Feder Historical Mystery Award, Macavity Awards (2010)
- A Lesson in Secrets – Agatha Award for Best Historical Novel (2011)
- A Lesson in Secrets – Bruce Alexander Memorial Mystery Award, Left Coast Crime (2012)
- A Lesson in Secrets – Sue Feder Historical Mystery Award, Macavity Awards (2012)
- Elegy for Eddie – Agatha Award for Best Historical Novel (2012)
- Elegy for Eddie – Bruce Alexander Memorial Mystery Award, Left Coast Crime (2013)
- Elegy for Eddie – Sue Feder Historical Mystery Award, Macavity Awards (2013)
- Leaving Everything Most Loved – Bruce Alexander Memorial Mystery Award, Left Coast Crime (2014)
Unfortunately I have been reading this series in the wrong order, not having realised how many of them there are, though I wish there were many many more!
I love the character of Maisie Dobbs, she is so caring and resourceful- I’m now ordering as many as I can at my local library!
Please keep writing them Jacqueline, as you have such a large fan base out there, all waiting for the next novel.
Thank you
LOVE LOVE LOVE all of them!
This is a wonderful series. I have enjoyed Maisie as a character; she is admirable, complex, caring, brave, intelligent, vulnerable, and strong. She is not perfect just like all of us. I would love to have her as my friend. Thank you for creating such a marvelous character and for letting me join her through a period of history that I only knew about from high school history. I have learned so much about the role that women played during war times and it has made me so proud of them. You, Miss Winspear, have done so much research that you made those periods of history come alive for your readers. Thank you.
What a terrific series. I wish I had read Masie Dobbs in order!
Love these books. I have all of them up to American Agent.
When is the next one due, soon I hope.
A Dangerous Place begins by telling about her marrying James.
I think I read one book out of sequence. In which book does Maisie marry?