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It’s 1931 London, where Maisie Dobbs combines investigative techniques with psychology to solve crimes. Getting to know a person’s mind is an important part of her work; it’s where she draws the most clues to crack even the most baffling cases.
Nicholas Bassington-Hope returned from the Great War and told his story, and those of his fellow soldiers, through his paintings. On the eve of an exhibition of his work at the Mayfair Gallery, he plunges to his death from the scaffolding he uses to help place his paintings on the wall. The police believe he got careless, and they rule his fall an accident. But Nicholas’s sister refuses to believe that.
When the police close the case, Georgina Bassington-Hope turns to Maisie Dobbs for help in finding out what truly happened to her brother—because Nicholas is never careless when it comes to hanging his art.
Maisie takes the job with reservations—because little evidence points toward it being anything other than an accident. And something about Georgina doesn’t set right with Maisie. Her client isn’t telling her everything, and that’s never good. But, since the police have something of their own to hide, Maisie starts digging into matters that might get her silenced forever.
Maisie Dobbs is one of the most kind-hearted, smartest, and toughest private investigators I’ve ever read. She can solve cases without the help of forensic experts—in her time, they didn’t exist—but she doesn’t need them anyway.
Since Messenger of Truth is the fourth in the Maisie Dobbs series, you might feel a little confused or out of the loop when something from her past or a previous case is mentioned. Easily fixable! Start from the beginning of the series—because I’m positive you’ll like it.
Ms. Winspear has penned not only a profound whodunit, but she’s blended it with social and political injustices of the time after the First World War. You’ll be hard-pressed to find another chic, clever, in-depth mystery of this caliber.
