April 11, 7:30 pm: Jacqueline Winspear and Cara Black in conversation with David Kipen
Two private detectives, Maisie Dobbs and Aimee Leduc, live in two different eras and in two different countries. They are both enormously popular, extraordinarily delightful and take us into two vastly different ways of solving crimes.
Jackie Winspear sets her Maisie Dobbs mysteries in the interwar years in and around London. Maisie does have a telephone, and does have the occasional use of an automobile, but high tech ends there. World War I has robbed everyone in England of fathers, brothers, husbands, sons and lovers—and Maisie is no different. It is the shadow of World War I that fuels the moral force in Maisie and the way she solves her crimes, and finds plenty of justice for her clients, and a little for herself. Maisie is a young woman who can move effortlessly between classes, and it’s the alchemy of smarts, psychological exploration as the science was evolving, and compassion that make her such an engaging and worthwhile heroine. In her new novel, A Lesson In Secrets, the British Secret Service takes note of Maisie’s potential, and asks her to work for the country’s interests inside a college in Cambridge. But a dead body complicates her mission, so she does what she does best—solves murders. And she teaches us a great deal along the way– not only about the staggering toll of World War I, but also about the developing areas of psychology and police detection.
Cara Black’s Aimee Leduc series moves us from neighborhood to neighborhood in Paris, in the present day. On a motorcycle. No arrondisement is immune to bodies galore, and Aimee’s adventures give a glorious tour of Paris, notwithstanding the bodycount. From Murder in the Marais to her new novel, Murder in Passy, each neighborhood is unique and beloved to both the author and her heroine. Aimee takes advantage of her partner’s dazzling software skills, and brings a poignant and fascinating personal history to each novel. In Murder in Passy, Aimee’s godfather and protector ends up on the wrong side of the prison bars, accused of murdering his lover. Basque separatists, terrorism, high speed motorcycle incidents and a handsome ex-boyfriend punctuate the novel with humor, action and not a little entertainment.
David Kipen avoids motorcycle chases, and to my knowledge, the British Secret Service has yet to take advantage of his great skills. He has been the book editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, and ran The Big Read program for the National Endowment for the Arts, where he coordinated the one city/one book programs. David’s new project is called Libros Shmibros, in which he lends to Boyle Heights residents the thousands of books he’s accumulated over years as being a book critic and editor.
At the MGM Building, 10250 Constellation Blvd., Century City. Grab a drink or dinner or hit the shops at the Westfield (formerly Century City) Shopping Center directly across the street, and park in the shopping center. The shopping center is just right across the street. Tickets, $20, cash or checks only please. RSVP TO THIS EVENT
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