Messenger of Truth

Jacqueline Winspear

7/25/2006

While getting ready for his art show, artist Nick Bassington-Hope fell from the scaffolding he was using to prepare the wall for his new controversial piece. The fall was pronounced an accident. His twin, Georgina Bassington-Hope, is certain Nick was murdered. Upon advice from a mutual friend, she comes to Maisie Dobbs for help.

Nick Bassington-Hope's masterpiece that was to be shown cannot be found. He hasn't shown it to anyone and has it hidden in a place no one knows. It is reputed to be his final piece on the war. He had spent most of the Great War drawing to promote the cause. Much of it was spent on the front where he saw the truth of battle. They have done a cursory look in his home, but the family is not able to cope with staying in the rooms for long. Even so, the piece supposedly is too big to have remained hidden there even from a brief search. Maisie has to follow up with his family and friends to find Nick's painting and locate who was willing to kill Nick to keep it from being shown.

Maisie feels overwhelmed by the driven, gregarious Georgina. The Bassington-Hope family are all artistic and wealthy, pulling Maisie into a new social realm. Yet that does not change her detecting style. She quiets her mind and soul as she looks for the truth. She asks questions, watches closely, and ponders what she sees and hears. She is not only looking for the truth of Nick's death, but other Bassington-Hope secrets, the effects of the Depression on her old employer's family homes, the illness in her assistant Billy's home, her relationship with Andrew Dene, and lastly and most deeply the truth within herself.

The Maisie Dobbs novels are quiet detective novels, making the reader reflect all the way through. There is usually some action when the murderer feels threatened, but nothing to keep the interest of someone who looks for a lot of suspense and action. Messenger of Truth is the most introspective novel in the series yet.

Jacqueline Winspear evokes the atmosphere of England during the Depression. In Messenger of Truth she contrasts the poor who barely scrape by with the wealthy society who continue with the parties and blindness. This novel didn't make an immediate "what a great book" impact, but rather stayed with me, not letting me go. It gets its obvious message to the reader and at the same time delivers a good novel that will keep the reader following through to the conclusion.

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The Series:

Maisie Dobbs
Birds of a Feather
Pardonable Lies
Messenger of Truth
An Incomplete Revenge