This was one of the best of the series. Lots of World War I memories/influence, an appearance by Oswald Mosley, some interesting characters whose feelings are really explored. I don't know why I hadn't read this one before, since I've read the rest of the books and am usually fairly OCD about reading a series in order....maybe it wasn't available at the library when I "should" have read it. At any rate, I'm glad I read it now. It reminded me of what I enjoyed about the Maisie Dobbs books when I first started reading them.

I am a huge fan of Maisie Dobbs. Not only are her stories entertaining. She also teaches some valuable lessons and forces the reader to think about their own motivations.

In this, Jacqueline Winspear's fourth entry to the Maisie Dobbs saga, Maisie Dobbs investigates the mysterious death of a controversial artist and World War I veteran.

London, 1931. The night before an exhibition of his artwork opens at a famed Mayfair gallery, the controversial artist Nick Bassington-Hope falls to his death. The police rule it an accident, but Nick's twin sister, Georgina, a wartime journalist and a infamous figure in her own right, isn't convinced.

In this book, Maisie is a bit more 'down to business' than in the first three. She even admits, on more than one occasion, that she could have been kinder in her conversations with various people.
Her musings about motivations of people really got me thinking. In Chapter 14, she first wonders about Nick's motivation as an artist and then reflects on her own reasons for pursuing the line of work that she has.

"Am I as much of an addict to the thrill my work sometimes brings?"

Shouldn't we all occasionally question our own motivations? I know I appreciated this opportunity to review my own.

4.75 stars

This series gets better with each subsequent book.

Oh, my goodness! Holy shit, Batman! I am blown away by this series and Winspear's writing. This is so very much more than just a "mystery" or a venture into "historical fiction"...it is some of the most thought-provoking introspective fiction I have read. Especially this, the fourth installment in the series. I cried. Not bawling, but I cried. Winspear is absolutely one of the very best authors at making me FEEL as the characters FEEL. No wonder I stayed up much of last night reading this. I have loved all four thus far, but this one...well, this one...is just in the top ranks of my 'favorite reads ever' listing! I feel as if any words I might use to describe Winspear's communication about societal and cultural issues and controversies to be so very lacking and insufficient. I am in such agreement regarding the futility of war (that endless cycle of violence...) and yet, I find this time period so extremely fascinating--the buildup of Hitler's regime in Germany in these years prior to World War II. I keep thinking...did anyone truly suspect his mania? And if so, when? And how will Winspear play this out in the further books of this series? This book specifically dealt with 'class' (what we would now term SES) issues and the impact of the 'haves' vs. the 'have nots,' not only upon peoples' physical well-being, but emotional as well--LIFE and DEATH at times. It is so revealing to realize these same issues of access to healthcare are STILL at the forefront today, especially in the U.S. where we refuse to grant access to healthcare for ALL! (Of course, England has done so.) Winspear does not just depict one side of these issues, but tackles it all, through the characters' experiences, feelings, and behaviors. It is so very powerful! And although Maisie may be considered by some to be an "Amazon," especially during this time period, she is also so very vulnerable... I just can't adequately describe the experience of reading this series. It is amazing!

This was my latest experience with Maisie Dobbs, the post-WWI British heroine created by Jacqueline Winspear. This fourth book in the series was good, but somehow I didn't enjoy it as much as the third three- don't know why. I highly recommend the whole series though!

I was excited to read in the p.s. section of the third book, "Messenger of Truth", that the series will be adapted for British television and that Winspear envisioned Anthony Hopkins and Maggie Smith as playing roles, although I don't know if that will come to pass. Something to look out for!

1931 and Maisie is investigating the death of a radical young artist. Those with vision have an eye upon Hitler. Mosley is being hailed as a hero in some circles. Once again Winspear whirls us into those times, and into Maisie’s life. There’s tragedy on more than one level, confrontation and yearning. Absolutely brilliant!

Maisie is growing on me. This was by far the best mystery of the series so far. Maisie is hired by Georgina to investigate her twin brother, Nick’s, death which the police ruled was accidental. He fell from scaffolding while installing artwork for his new exhibition, or was he pushed? Maisie’s investigation takes her to Nick’s cottage on the beach where she not only discovers his sketches showing that he paints people he knows but she also witnesses some clandestine nighttime activity by the fishermen on the beach unloading a haul of goods onto a truck. Are they smugglers and was this connected to Nick’s death? Eventually she learns that Nick and his art friends were collecting paintings owned by Jews and others on the continent and hiding them for safe keeping as concerns about a new war grew. Unfortunately some shady characters in London’s underworld discovered this operation and used it for their own purposes of smuggling diamonds by hiding them in the pictures. But Maisie figures out that this didn’t have anything to do with Nick’s death. So what happened? It was all connected to Nick’s art and his missing masterpiece, which he painted as a tribute to the men who died in the Great War that he wanted to donate to a museum so everyone could see it. This upset the gallery owner who wanted to sell it, the rich American who wanted to buy all of Nick’s artwork, his family who wanted money to support their country estate. In the end, it was the subject of the piece that was Nick’s undoing. He painted the truth about the death of his brother in law, who was said to have been shot during a cease fire but who was in fact tortured and killed by his fellow soldiers for having low moral character because he embraced a German soldier while burying the dead. Nick’s father discovered the subject mater and begged Nick to reconsider so that he wouldn’t embarrass the family and upset his sister. Nick refused, they fought and Nick fell from the scaffolding. Tragic but in some ways healing for the family. Other side stories include Billy’s young daughter dying from diphtheria due to the deplorable living conditions in the East End of London, Maisie ending her courtship with Andrew Dean and Lady Compton closing up the Belgravia house. A satisfying mystery and story of Maisie and her life in London in the early 30’s.

Messenger of Truth is the fourth book in the Maisie Dobbs series by British-born American author, Jacqueline Winspear. When the death of controversial artist Nicholas Bassington-Hope, from a fall whilst setting up his latest exhibition, is ruled as accidental, his twin sister Georgina is unconvinced. Georgina, an outspoken journalist, seeks out the help of Maisie Dobbs, psychologist and investigator. In the course of her investigations, Maisie meets the bohemian Bassington-Hope family, Nick’s fellow artists from the colony at Dungeness, his promoter, gallery owner Stig Svenson, and the collector who is determined to own all of his work, wealthy American Randolph Bradley. And while all the evidence points to an unfortunate fall, Maisie soon finds that plenty of possible motives exist for Nick’s murder. Nick was known for including real people in his paintings, careless of whom it might upset. Did his latest masterpiece, secreted away in an unknown lockup, offend the wrong person? Or did he fall foul of his younger brother’s contacts with the underworld? Was Randolph looking to increase the value of his collection (as the death of an artist is bound to do), or annoyed that he refused to sell the masterpiece? What were his artist friends, of late noticeably wealthier, hiding? Were the recent quarrels with his siblings relevant? Maisie is left to determine the true story alone, as Billy Beale has problems of his own. DI Stratton is being less than helpful and things come to a head with Maisie’s suitor, Andrew Dene. This instalment touches on war artists, war propaganda, the atrocities of war, the scourge of childhood diseases, and the loss of art works to richer countries. Stolen heirloom diamonds, European works of art and smugglers all feature as Maisie delves into the world of art. Winspear develops her main characters further and gives the reader an original plot with enough twists to keep the pages turning. Winspear uses some wonderfully descriptive prose: her depiction of the converted railway carriage is particularly evocative. This is another excellent mystery that skilfully conjures the feel of post-war England and her inhabitants. Fans will look forward to the next book in the series, An Incomplete Revenge.

An elegantly-written & deeply felt story. The early books in this series delve how WWI affected the lives of so many. The tragedies in this one were so very sad but ends with hopefulness & light.

I've enjoyed this series so far, but this book is definitely my least favorite. The plot line was really drawn out and just not terribly interesting. I have book 5 ready to go, and hopefully it will pick up.

Once again, loving all the character development with Maisie. Liked that there was less traveling in this one.

Hard lives for many of these characters and we're getting more foreshadowing of the impending WWII.

I have written to the publishers of this book saying that I'd love to see a collaboration of this author and the author of the Phryne Fisher series.

They're both independant single women working at the same vocation, in the same time period, and solving mysteries, but with very different methods. How neat it would be for them to 'meet' and solve a mystery together.