I appreciate this author and the way she has framed this series. WWI is such an interesting time in world history. Using a young, single, working class female as a heroine in this series allows the author to explore so many facets of that time period in a way that is entertaining and spell-binding. I wish I had discovered this series years ago and didn't have to play catch up on it. These books are un-putdownable!

I really enjoy the Maisie Dobbs series, and this one had shining moments. Overall I felt she regressed as a woman & human being. The book focused more on her spidey senses and did not develop Maisie as a character. I enjoyed the mystery plot, characters, lead up, and conclusion. I finished the book with a sense of sadness that Maisie seems less developed, less of a fulfilled person, less connected, less loved, just less! On to book #5 and hopefully a better situation for our Maisie girl!

The fourth book in the Maisie Dobbs series. Historical fiction and mystery. Entertaining.

Another great Maisie Dobbs mystery to listen to!

I was much more excited about the process/journey of the story in finding the mystery than the actual discovery of the mystery in itself. It just reminded me how much this series is about character building and plot development than really the actual resolution of the case.

I just love the details that really put me into the story, the time and location. I find it so fascinating how Maisie Dobbs has the right questions and the right words for everything. It was also great to see some of her weaknesses in this book.

So excited about continuing these books!

This was my second favorite book in the series (first being Birds of a Feather). Keep in mind, I stopped at book 9 when the series got unbearable, but the first few books pulled no punches, delivering a powerful whallop. This book was a particularly good murder mystery, with plenty of suspects and red herrings.

Another thing that helps make this book special is that we finally get to peek under Maisie's mask. Although much of a Masie Dobbs book is told from her point of view, Winspear makes sure the readers are kept at a distance. This made Maisie seem more of a mystery than her murder cases. Here, she warms up a bit, and seems more human.

Maurice plays hardly any role here, which I loved. It's about damn time Maisie got away from the Hercule Poirot wannabe. Although she doesn't realize it, she's now become smarter than her mentor.

Like all Maisie Dobbs books, this has an A and a B plot. This time around, we also get a C plot. The A plot is the murder mystery. The B plot is the Beales' daughter Lizzie getting diptheria. The C plot is Maisie's relationship with Andrew Dene. The B and C plots do not overpower the murder mystery, as they would do in later books such as The Mapping of Love and Death.

Fourth in the Maisie Dobbs historical mystery set in December 1930 London and revolving around a woman who incorporates a meditative psychology with her detective work.

My Take
In this story, we explore the lives of artists, painters, a writer, and a musician. What makes them tick, the places they work. What spurs them on. As for the coast at Dungeness, I don't think it has anything to do with all the red herrings in this.

Oh, god, this was so incredibly sad. Such talent ended. A family devastated. Then when you include the effects of the so-called Great War on so many men. The government that forces them into doing their bit, and then abandons them when they no longer need them. Much like today. Nothing much has changed. And I suspect that's a large part of what makes me so sad.

An underlying theme that haunts both Maisie and Billy is the contrast between the haves and have-nots. The money that is spent on art while hundreds suffer from the cold, hunger, and the inability to afford medical help. The description Winspear provides about the state of medical care in this time period is...enlightening.

There wasn't the same emphasis on the mind in this story. Previously, Winspear has been much more explicit on how Maisie gets into a person's mind and sets them at ease. This was more of a background tool in this story. Not something that stood out.

Huh, interesting bit of background on Joyston-Hicks. Someone I want to read more about as it puts an explanation into all those stories of clubs and pubs being raided in the 1920s. There's also a side blip into the propaganda of war. The hideousness of ignorance when it comes to the perception of what is cowardice.

Oh, I absolutely loved the description of Nick's transformation of the railway carriages into a home and studio. I want one!

Money doesn't solve people's problems. It won't make them happy or sad in their own lives, but. What it does is take the pressure off. Make it possible to pursue whatever path a person needs to walk and explore to deal with what does make them happy or sad. Billy and the decisions he will make in the future are just as important as the realities that the Bassington-Hopes have to face. Yes, the B-Hs can do it with more comfort than the Beales, and yet the emotional turmoils they must endure are similar. That stiff upper lip that kept the B-Hs apart from each other, preventing them from understanding and comforting each other led to their current misery. If a similar pride suffered by Billy had been cracked sooner, perhaps they wouldn't be as distressed as they are now. It's the same, just on different levels.

I am curious as to where Winspear will take Maisie after these events in Messenger of Truth. She's had some setbacks, a painful moment of liberation, and a new independence with which to work. Where it takes her in n  An Incomplete Revengen is the next mystery.

I was going to whine about Winspear's confusion over the use of bale versus bail, but in my research, I discovered that the English seem to be split 50-50 over which is more appropriate. Ah...English...the language of precision and confusion...

The Story
Nick Bassington-Hope is dead. The police call it an accident. His twin sister calls it murder and asks Maisie Dobbs for her help. It's a difficult case, but more so because of the anger it rouses in Maisie and Billy.

The contrast between the easy life enjoyed by people like Georgina Bassington-Hope and her contemporaries compared to the struggle to survive suffered by Billy and his extended family. The threat to their very lives as they struggle to care for children stricken with mortal illness.

But the Billy Beales of the world are not alone in struggle, for Georgina and Nick, their family, also struggle with the aftermath of war. The horror they have all experienced, that each strives to understand, the strain of having survived.

And Maisie is being followed.

The Characters
Maisie Dobbs was raised up and educated far beyond her original station in life. The daughter of a costermonger, she had been fated to perform at a service level, but service to Lord and Lady Compton and friendship with Maurice enabled her to fulfill her abilities and she now works as a psychologist and detective, working to resolve the earthly and mental problems of others. And, yes, she did buy herself a flat and move out of Ebury Place. She's been seeing Dr. Andrew Dene, another of Maurice's protege's. Priscilla Evernden Partridge is Maisie's best friend from Girton (see n  Pardonable Liesn).

Billy Beale is Maisie's assistant and he will have his own familial traumas to suffer through. Doreen is his wife and his children are suffering, but not as much as little Lizzie. Doreen's sister and her family have moved in with them since Jim lost his carpentry job.

Dr. Maurice Blanche---an expert in legal medicine, a psychologist and philosopher, and Maisie's mentor---is retired now and living in a cottage on the Comptons' country estate along with Francis Dobbs, Maisie's father, now working as Lady Compton's head groom. Lady Rowan Compton was her sponsor and supporter with the acquiescence of her husband Lord Julian Compton. Sandra was one of the maids at Ebury Place; she's now engaged to Eric, the former chauffeur who has found work with Reg Martin at the garage.

I think Detective Inspector Richard Stratton has given up on dating Maisie, although he does refer cases to her and hire her as a consultant for Scotland Yard. Doris Watts is one of the first women who work undercover for the Yard. Inspector Vance is a jerk. Tucker is with Customs and Excise and he's a conscienceless jerk as well.

Georgina Bassington-Hope is a surviving twin and determined to learn the truth of her brother Nick's death. She and her brother are two sides of the same coin: she is intrepid in searching for the truth of war through the use of words while Nick searched for its meaning through his paintings. Noelle Grant is their oldest sister, Godfrey's widow, and the only one in the family with no artistic talent. Harry is the baby of the family, a talented musician, but absolutely hopeless morally. Their parents, Emma and Piers, are also incredibly creative.

Alex Courtman and Duncan Haywood are fellow artists who were helping Nick to install the secret artwork. Friends since the Slade, they and a third friend and fellow artist, Quentin Trayner, had all joined the army at the same time.

Stig Svenson is the art dealer who has been encouraging and funding Nick's work. Arthur Levitt is a guard at Svenson's gallery. Randolph Bradley is a rich American who has been purchasing Nick's work. He'll buy it sight unseen and he's desperate to purchase the huge unknown work Nick had been keeping secret. A man I despise and admire at the same time. Amos White, a retired fisherman at Dungeness, has been working with Rowland and Tom Draper. Oswald Mosley makes an appearance. It's interesting to read the different perspectives on him.

Dame Constance is the abbess at Camden Abbey in Romney Marsh. Simon Lynch is Maisie's first and, so far, only real love. He suffered a dreadful head wound in World War I and has been hospitalized ever since.

The Cover
The cover is very much in keeping with the Art Deco style of the previous covers with Maisie all bundled up and out on the beach, a fishing boat pulled up on the strand behind her, a lonely lighthouse in the background with a massive cloud billowing up behind her, a sense of overshadowing doom, of a blowing up, and yet peaceful with a full moon peeking from behind.

The title is too true for both Maisie and Nick. Both are a Messenger of Truth, and everyone is the better for it.

There is a quotation at the start of the book. I recommend reading it after you've finished for a much greater impact.

Art takes center stage in this one. I appreciate how what is left behind by the artist often tells a story in mysteries.

The gap between those who have, and have not, is really highlighted here, although tragedy is tragedy to go around.

This was a bit of an in-between book for Maisie, as she’s continuing to consider what she wants out of life and how to move towards it. I don’t mind the introspection, but it would be good to see her stepping forward and finding some measure of happiness.

I've given Maisie a fair chance, but I think our journey together ends here. I've rated every book at three stars, and have failed to warm to Maisie much over four books. There's some minor character growth and self-awareness for her in this one, but she remains sanctimonious and cold overall. The mysteries are fine, but there are certainly better written ones out there, and ones which rely less on the character having timely strokes of intuition. The best thing about this one was that there was a lot less of the weird Maurice dynamic, so yay for that.

I'll never say never, if I'm ever in need of an immediate audiobook, perhaps I'll find my way back, but for now, there are lot of other things I'd rather read.

4.5 ⭐️ One of my favorites so far in the Maisie Dobbs’ series, especially for the character development we see Maisie exhibit throughout this story. She’s independent, passionate about her work and justice, and doesn’t fit the mold of doing what’s expected of women at the time. Although as a reader I always admire that about Maisie, towards the end of this book in the series, we see Maisie begin to admire this quality in herself as well.

“The sea lapped even closer, though Maisie remained in place, her hands holding her collar to protect her neck. It’s because it’s the beginning, and also the end. That was what she loved about the place where the water met the land — the promise of something fresh, a suggestion that, even if what was happening now is to be suffered, there is an end and a beginning. I could sail away on that beginning, thought Maisie, as she turned to leave.” (p. 310)

“I reckon, Billy, that there’s such a thing as serendipity, that if you are meant to move on, you will. And I believe that if you imagine, and keep on imagining, a better life for your family, then events will conspire to present the opportunity to you. And when that time comes, you will make your decision, one way or another.” “Bit of a gamble, though, ain’t it?” “So is staying in one spot.” (p. 312)

Maisie Dobbs, Psychologist and Investigator, has a special talent for sensing the emotion of others. In this fourth book in the Maisie Dobbs series, a client hires her to determine whether an obvious accident is, in fact, a murder. The only evidence, so far, is the client's intuition. Nevertheless, Maisie agrees to take the case.

The time is the Great Depression. Maisie inhabits a three-dimensional world, in which veterans feel forgotten by the British Government. Maisie is haunted by her own war experiences and carries much of her past in her memories. The hardships impact on the case.

Here is a blend of literary and cozy, a unique approach to crime, which wins many readers. Her memories of the past tease us into wanting to read any previous books we might have missed in the series. My only complaint is the author's tendency in this book to keep secrets from the readers. We view the world through Maisie's eyes and thoughts. Therefore we should be privy to what surprises her. While the story strings are neatly tied up at the end, I feel that some of the secrets are knots that are still a mystery to me.

Nevertheless, I'm so taken by this series, that I would eagerly anticipate the next novel.

I continue to be obsessed with Maisie and this series. Even though the mystery wasn't as good as the previous one, I still really enjoyed it. Especially the art world setting. But the mystery being ok or great doesn't matter quite as much to me because of the time period and setting. Jacqueline Winspear perfectly depicts the 1930s, post-WWI, and realities of the Great Depression. This book had some truly heartbreaking elements. And reading this at this time, knowing where things lead with Hitler and Nazi Germany and WWII, I can imagine how much harder it will get.

I've always been fascinated by women of this era who must become independent and work because of the war but who still struggle with so much because of sexism. Maisie is the perfect character to live through this with, and I only love her more for all she's been through and has thus accomplished.

Maisie takes a case of a fellow alumni from school. Her client is an aristocrat and a journalist whose brother, a veteran and artist, died right before his big exhibition. The police say it’s an accident and refer her to Maisie. The client is a well known journalist, a muckraker of sorts.

Maisie takes the case with some misgivings but soon uncovers smuggling, gangsters, and another brother beholden to gangsters. She finds the deceased artist a very deliberate and meticulous man- the type of guy who wouldn’t have fallen accidentally off scaffolding. Meanwhile she’s also coping with the end of a romantic relationship and a tragedy to her assistant.

Maisie is a great boss. She deals deftly with chauvinism. Her investigation, however, takes a completely unsuspected direction and leaves the client with answers she didn’t want.