Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear

Synopsis From Dust Jacket:

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 fall come out of the shadows to silence her.

I've been sitting here for well over an hour, trying to figure out something to say, that I haven't said about the other books in this series.  If you guys have read any of my other reviews, you already know that I love this series.  You know that I think Maisie Dobbs is one of the most interesting characters to ever grace the hallways of mystery ficiton, of any genre of fiction.  She is a complex, engaging character who never fails to puzzle, engage, or even annoy me at times.  Not matter what emotion she is instilling in me, I love her.  But you guys have already read me stating that, even if not in those exact words.  So I'm still at a lost for what to say.

And as is the usual, the mystery itself is just as interesting and complex as the woman charged with solving it.  It's a mystery that takes a surprising turn at the end, and I am more than willing to admit, it was an ending I never saw coming.  The clues and signs were there, but for whatever reason, I completely overlooked them. It was a solution that saddened me in ways I can't go into, otherwise you might figure it out yourselves.

One quick point I do want to mention, while I found the Bassington-Hope family to be one that could hypnotize me into liking them, I'm pretty sure I would have reacted in the same way Maisie did.  At first she was just as hooked as most of us would have been, but overtime she began to realize exactly who they were.  And she accepted them for that, she was on guard, but she enjoyed her interactions with them.  Georgiana, I think I would like her.  She is a very intelligent woman, who despite her outward appearance of frivolity, has a inner strength to be admired.  I also think I would have liked to know the deceased artist.  From everything I learned of him, though he wasn't the perfect angel some wanted him to be, he seemed to be the most down to earth of them all.   Despite the arrogance and selfishness he showed, I don't think he had a malicious bone in his body.  And anyone who had the sight and the talent he had, is someone to know.  And by the way, I really want to spend some time on those beaches of Dungeness.