MADreads

Truth in art

December 16th, 2006 Lesley - Central

In Jacqueline Winspear’s fourth Maisie Dobbs mystery The Messenger of Truth, the private investigator and psychologist is again involved in a case influenced by events during World War I. 

Maisie is living in 1930’s London when she is approached by fellow classmate and wartime journalist Georgina Bassington-Hope to investigate the death of her twin brother.  Nick was a famous painter who fell from a scaffold as he was preparing a major exhibition of his work at a Mayfair gallery.  Georgina’s eccentric family and friends believe Nick’s death was an accident but she’s not convinced. The artist was a popular painter whose works were often controversial re-creations of his wartime experiences.  As Maisie investigates Nick and his circle of friends, she discovers the dangers that were present in his life after the artist portrayed actual people in his paintings. She also  realizes the class divisions present during the 1930’s.

Although many of the characters and events from the earlier novels are present in this latest book in the series, readers unfamiliar with Maisie Dobbs will still enjoy this historical mystery.

Entry Filed under: Mystery