| Jacqueline Winspear | |
| Birth Date: | 30 April 1955 |
| Birth Place: | Kent, England |
| Occupation: | Writer |
| Alma Mater: | University of London |
| Notable Works: | Maisie Dobbs |
| Spouse: | John Morrell |
| Signature: | Jacqueline Winspear signature (cropped).jpg |
Jacqueline Winspear (born 30 April 1955) is a mystery writer, author of the Maisie Dobbs series of books exploring the aftermath of World War I. She has won several mystery writing awards for books in this popular series.
Winspear was born on 30 April 1955 and raised in Cranbrook, in Kent.[1] She was educated at the University of London's Institute of Education and then worked in academic publishing, higher education and in marketing communications. She emigrated to the United States in 1990. Winspear stated that her childhood awareness of her grandfather's suffering in World War I led to an interest in that period.[2]
Maisie Dobbs is a private investigator who untangles painful and shameful secrets stemming from war experiences. A gifted working class girl in class-conscious England, she receives an unusual education thanks to the patronage of her employer, who had taken her on as a housemaid.
She interrupts her education to work as a nurse in the Great War, falls in love and suffers her own losses. After the war, she finishes her university education, then works under the tutelage of her mentor. When he retires, she sets up as an investigator in her own office.
Dobbs places emphasis on achieving healing for her clients and insists they comply with her ethical approach.
She grows older throughout the series of novels, and her cases reflect the times, from the Great War to the Second World War.