Messenger of Truth: A Maisie Dobbs
Novel (Maisie Dobbs Novels) by
Jacqueline Winspear
Great Read!
Sue Feder/Macavity Award for Best Historical Mystery Award
Nominee London, 1931. On the night before the opening of his new and
much-anticipated exhibition at a famed Mayfair gallery, Nicholas
Bassington-Hope falls to his death. The police declare it an accident, but
the dead mans twin sister, Georgina, isnt convinced. When the authorities
refuse to conduct further investigations, Georgina takes matters into her
own hands, seeking out a fellow graduate from Girton College: Maisie
Dobbs, psychologist and investigator.
The case soon takes Maisie to the desolate beaches of Dungeness in
Kent, as well as the sinister underbelly of the citys art world. She again

uncovers the dark legacy of the Great War in a society struggling to
recollect itself in difficult times. But to solve the mystery of the artists death,
she will have to remain steady as the forces behind his death come out of
the shadows to silence her.
Jacqueline Winspear delivers another vivid, thrilling, and utterly unique
episode in the life of Maisie Dobbs.
Personal Review: Messenger of Truth: A Maisie Dobbs Novel
(Maisie Dobbs Novels) by Jacqueline Winspear
Back in 2005, I was introduced to Maisie Dobbs when I read Pardonable
Lies. And I mentioned at the time that it wouldn't be my last Maisie Dobbs
book. So when the opportunity came for me to read and review Messenger
of Truth, I jumped at it. Maisie Dobbs is a unique character in
mystery/detective fiction -- she doesn't have a bumbling sidekick that she
keeps having to explain everything to, she doesn't seem to fall into key
clues that crack cases wide open.
The titles of the books aren't even puns, which my wife tells me is very
important in evaluating mysteries. Maisie is a very methodical investigator
whose methods are highly unorthodox, especially for 1930s England. She
works well with her assistant Billy, whom she trusts to conduct parts of the
investigations by himself.
In this installment of the Maisie Dobbs mystery series, Maisie is
investigating the death of a well-known artist, who apparently fell from a
scaffold while preparing his latest exhibit. There's really no evidence of
any foul play, and the death is quickly labeled accidental, but the artist's
sister has a "gut feeling" that something more happened. So does Maisie.
This entire series is set in post-WWI, depression-era England. We get
some great insights into the effects of the "Great War" on the various social
classes in England. Too often we look at WWI as an honorable war; we
miss the lives that were impacted, the outlooks that were totally changed.
In the US we were barely affected by the war, but in Europe almost an
entire generation of young men were killed. What the survivors saw in the
war affected them years later, when more trouble started brewing in
Europe.
It's easy to look back and wonder how people could have thought that
peace was possible with Hitler in power; the people in England at that time
were sick of war, and wanted nothing to do with it. One of the things I love
about the Maisie Dobbs series is that we get to look at things in a totally
different way - we see another perspective on what happened back then,
and understand a little better why things happened the way they did.

Another thing that I love about the series is the way each case affects
Masie. We're used to reading books about Sherlock Holmes or Miss
Marple, who finish their cases pretty much how they start - same outlook,
same opinions, in pretty much the same place emotionally as they started.
Masie's cases impact her. They change her.
In Pardonable Lies, we see Maisie have a breakdown as a result of the
case, coupled with her experiences as a nurse in WWI. In this case, her
opinions of herself change. She begins to wonder about why she is an
investigator, and she wonders about her personal priorities. She sees a
side of society that is untouched by the depression, and she sees people
whose lives are forever changed by it - and is impacted by both groups.
And at the end of the book, we see Maisie ready for rebirth, and wonder
what the next case, and the next book, hold for her.
And for us. I have to admit it, I'm hooked on this series. I'll be headed to
the library to get the first two books, and I'll be waiting with bated breath for
No. 5.
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