“Messenger of Truth” - Jacqueline Winspear

 

(Maisie Dobbs book 4)

🎨 This was a neat little mystery-within-a-mystery. Maisie is enlisted by a young woman to investigate the recent death of her brother. Georgina Bassington-Hope is of an aristocratic family, but has made a name for herself as a journalist. Her brother was an artist and a WWI veteran. Georgina believes there was foul play and his death was not accidental.

🎨 I believe modern readers will be startled by the stark choices facing working women during this time period. Progressive women, if they beat the odds and clawed out a career for themselves, would require a kindly man to assist in obtaining a mortgage. Single working women were an oddity; an aberration to be looked at askew but tolerated. The rules of the game would change dramatically if they later got married; at that point, the woman would be expected to give up all her hard-earned independence. “Progressive” men would applaud plucky working women up to a point; and that point was marriage. 

Maisie must sort her feelings for Dr. Dene and her ambitions for her career. It’s truly a turning point for her because she understands she cannot have both in equal measure.

🎨 A minor stylistic choice that irked me in this book was Maisie saying “gosh” frequently. I don’t think she ever does in the prior books in the series. It gives an impression of her trying to downplay her intellect. Perhaps that’s exactly what she is doing? It’s off-putting though because as a rule, Maisie speaks carefully and precisely, believing in a strict economy of words. 

🎨 I’m with Detective Inspector Stratton on this one point: Maisie’s explanations are long-winded, and filled overmuch with preachy commentary. But there’s no distracting drama with Maurice in this novel, and it moves along at a brisk clip. You find yourself drawn to the dead artist, and wanting to uncover what happened to him and why.