Elegy for Eddie, by Jacqueline Winspear

I have been so busy preparing for today's Highland BLOOMS garden tour that there has been no writing time.  Today our neighborhood association gave over 500 people the opportunity to enjoy some outdoor living spaces in our funky, historic neighborhood, but also to experience other  benefits that our neighborhood has to offer--taste treats from area restaurants, cool jazz from two local bands, an old-fashioned lemonade and cookie stand, a red tag sale of vintage garden-related items, free passalong plants, plus a sampling of arts and crafts from local vendors.  The committee worked so hard on this project and it has paid off with a lot of positive buzz about our unique neighborhood. 

Things remain in a bit of an upheaval at my paying job--not to be confused with the hours spent on neighborhood issues.  I'm finding it has been hard to stay grounded (despite all the focus on gardens!)  So, when I inadvertently became the owner of a copy of Jacqueline Winspear's latest Maisie Dobbs' mystery, Elegy for Eddie, I was delighted.  A great excuse for some escapist reading. 

I read the book last weekend, but have been unable to post about it.  The book focuses on the death of a gentle soul named Eddie who was born in a stable and grew up around horses while his mother worked cleaning the stalls.  Although Eddie was slow in his cognitive development, he has a natural rapport with horses.  One day he is killed in an "accident" in a paper mill and Maisie is asked to discover who killed him--his friends refuse to believe his death is accidental. 

This mystery is in many ways a gentler story than Winspear's earlier novels, which often focus more on the damaged soldiers who returned from WW I.  It is understandable that Winspear has taken up the cause of the European soldiers returning from World War I and the horrors of that war.  Her grandfather’s lungs were badly damaged by gas at the Battle of the Somme and even in his latter years, he was still picking shrapnel out of his legs.  There isn't as much suspense in this novel, but there's more introspection.

When I read on Winspear's website (http://www.jacquelinewinspear.com/newsletter-2-12.html)   that this book is based on a true story that her father told her, I found it even more poignant.  The back drop of this mystery is another pending World War, and Winspear weaves this scenario into the plot in a manner not totally satisfactory to me, but I still enjoyed reading the book.

I love the fact that Winspear's horse served as the model for the cover of Elegy for Eddie.  Winspear, a keen horsewoman born in Kent, England, is pictured below riding her horse.

I find it interesting that Winspear also writes on the topic of international education.  As a former academic myself, I was fascinated by anthropology of education in graduate school before I drifted into the study of reading and literacy and then moved into early childhood special education and finally into early childhood education for at-risk children.  Unfortunately, life is just too short to pursue all the areas of study that interest me.

Tomorrow I plan to post some of the great photos my husband took of our Highland BLOOMS garden tour so everyone can see some of the awesome outdoor spaces featured.