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Maisie Dobbs #4

Messenger of Truth

jacqueline winspear

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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 the fall an accident, but the dead man's twin sister, Georgina, isn't convinced. When the authorities refuse to conduct further investigations and close the case, Georgina - a journalist and infamous figure in her own right - 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 city's art world. And while navigating her way into the heart of the aristocratic yet bohemian Bassington-Hopes, Maisie is deeply troubled by the tragedy of another, quite different family in need.

In Messenger of Truth, Maisie Dobbs 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 artist's death, she will have to remain steady as the forces behind his death come out of the shadows to silence her.

Following on the bestselling Pardonable Lies, Jacqueline Winspear delivers another vivid, thrilling, and utterly unique episode in the life of Maisie Dobbs.

322 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1,2006
Series
Maisie Dobbs
Literary awards
macavity award, agatha award, 
Places
united kingdom, 

This edition

Format
322 pages, Hardcover
Published
August 22, 2006 by Henry Holt and Co.
ISBN
9780805078985
ASIN
0805078983
Language
English
Characters More characters
  • Maisie Dobbs

    Maisie Dobbs

    Maisie Dobbs is a fictional character created by author Jacqueline Winspear. Maisie is a "psychologist and investigator" in post World War I London. A nurse during the war, Maisie returned to London to work with her mentor, accomplished detective Dr. Maur...

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About the author

Profile Image for jacqueline winspear

jacqueline winspear

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Jacqueline Winspear was born and raised in the county of Kent, England. Following higher education at the University of London's Institute of Education, Jacqueline worked in academic publishing, in higher education and in marketing communications in the UK.

She emigrated to the United States in 1990, and while working in business and as a personal / professional coach, Jacqueline embarked upon a life-long dream to be a writer.

A regular contributor to journals covering international education, Jacqueline has published articles in women's magazines and has also recorded her essays for KQED radio in San Francisco. She currently divides her time between Ojai and the San Francisco Bay Area and is a regular visitor to the United Kingdom and Europe.

Jacqueline is the author of the New York Times bestsellers A Lesson in Secrets, The Mapping of Love and Death, Among the Mad, and An Incomplete Revenge, and other nationally bestselling Maisie Dobbs novels. She has won numerous awards for her work, including the Agatha, Alex,
and Macavity awards for the first book in the series, Maisie Dobbs, which was also nominated for the Edgar Award for best novel and was a New York Times
Notable Book.

Series:
* Maisie Dobbs

http://us.macmillan.com/author/jacque...

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Community Reviews

Rating(3.9 / 5.0, 100 votes)
5 stars
27(27%)
4 stars
38(38%)
3 stars
35(35%)
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100 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
_kawaii_chan__
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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This is book 4 in the Maisie Dobbs series. I really enjoyed this story. We are in London 1931. Maisie is hired to investigate the death of an artist and determine if it was truly an accident or was it murder?

Maisie's personal life takes a next step and she helps Billy through his own personal tragedy. Meanwhile she's getting involved in the London underworld and smuggling rings while investigating her case.

The author does a fabulous job of creating the time period. I can feel the scenery and I love that!

At the end I was very satisfied. I enjoyed this one more than book 4. Can't wait to read the next one!
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Profile Image for Kimberly .
agensi
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Maisie and I need to have some time away from each other. She's so cold and conceited these days. Her ever-increasing super powers are grating.
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ShiionKoro
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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3 stars

Although I cannot say that this is my favorite all time series, I thought that this book was maybe the best of the 4 I have read. Maisie did not get spread too thin with multiple crimes to solve in this book, she concentrated on one issue - whether or not an artist fell to his death or was pushed. What I felt made this book so much better was the side story involving her assistant Billy.

On to the 5th installment...
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MadaraSarutobi
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Maisie Dobbs, book 4. I’m so used to reading e-books now that I ended up reading a Kindle edition from the library even though I had a hardcover edition available to me by midway through. Book 5 I have a friend’s autographed hardcover and it will be fun to read a “real” book again, and sans plastic library cover. I’m reading this series out loud to a friend.

This one has the usual wit & humor, and the psychological insight, and suspense at times too.

One incredibly sad happening  the death of Billy’s daughter Lizzy due to diphtheria partly due to hesitating to seek out medical care because of financial worries

The Great Depression is being dealt with now, as WWI was and is. My friend and I were disappointed that in earlier books the 1918 flu pandemic was barely mentioned. Given our current pandemic we’d been looking forward to seeing how these characters handled it.

This book was interesting. I liked the art world aspect of it.

These books so far have all been 4-1/2 stars for me. Rounding up or down is not an easy decision. I know I’m enjoying them more than I would were I reading them on my own. My friend and I tend to have the same sense of humor and similar sensibilities, and know what kind of personal meaning certain plot points and relationship issues have for ourselves and each other. Great fun! I would enjoy this series no matter what. Maisie is a great character as are all the regular more minor characters & guest characters and as are the locations described. The author is a fabulous storyteller.

ETA: One of my favorite things about these books is the absence of black and white and the presence of shades of gray.
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BBQ_Chicken
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Very unusual and successful English period mystery that focuses on the skills and practices of a painter and WW 1 veteran. Recommended for that many aspects of the painter’s practice that it explores, as seen through Maisie’s novice eyes.
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Profile Image for Kimberly .
Bordey
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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The fourth installment in the Maisie Dobbs series finds Maisie investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of a well-known artist after being hired by the artist's twin sister. Her investigation leads her to discover both bonds and strife within the given family, while also putting her onto the scent of a possible smuggling ring.

Overall the story was enjoyable, but it was also my least favorite in the series so far. I have read numerous reviews now with people saying they don't think Maisie is a very likeable character, and for the first time a part of me agrees with her. I was not happy with how she handled her relationship with Andrew Dene, nor how it ended so abruptly, especially when he was nothing but caring and concerned for so long. It seemed like she strung him along unnecessarily because he was a good distraction, and I didn't like that.

I also found issue with the fact that, being a former nurse, she did not immediately go to Billy's house and offer help to the sickly Lizzie Beale. I understand she didn't want to injure Billy's pride by pushing, but if she had gone over sooner the poor girl might have survived. It seemed wrong that after the little girl's death she goes on and on about the plight of the poor and how others should be doing more to help, and yet she did nothing more but make a passing comment offering her assistance. Her actions made her feel like a bit of a hypocrite.

I also found the main mystery here to be slightly less engaging. I am a big fan of art in general, but writing about art can be very difficult, since it must be appreciated visually. Winspear's lengthy descriptions, although well-written, still cannot compete with seeing a piece of art with your own eyes. Given that art plays such a major role in the story, I found my mind wandering during the descriptions, often wishing there were pictures to go along with it.

Overall I still enjoy Winspear's writing, and will continue with the series, but I am hoping that future installments will be a bit more engaging than this one.
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zhazha01
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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WARNING: You are about to enter a twisted, angry review where every innocent question hides a deadly and maleficent SPOILER!!!!

****

What kind of mystery novel spends two hundred pages trying to tell you nothing but how goofed up the murder victim's relatives are?

What kind of detective spends all her time holding hands with twits like the dead man's sister, then nabs the "killer" without even trying on the last page?

What kind of idiot gets into a shoving match with his father while standing high atop a rickety scaffold?

What kind of dad lives fifty five years without ever striking any of his kids, then "suddenly" shoves his son off a high scaffold "by accident?" Because he's "shocked" by a war painting?

What kind of "war painting" shocks people enough to commit murder, when all it shows is a German soldier and an English soldier having a "group hug" in the middle of no man's land?

All the problems in this novel come down to one thing. Dear, sweet Maisie Dobbs just can't fathom evil as a factor in human behavior. Unlike Sam Spade, who's favorite toast is "success to crime" Maisie has no ability to find the criminal impulse in her own emotions. There are no criminals in these novels, just bewildered lost souls who need Maisie's mystical brand of healing. It's all fearfully sweet and fearfully dull. And it only gets sillier as the time period advances and we hear more and more about real evil on the march -- Hitler in Germany, Moseley in England.
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