Cheryl R. (Spuddie) - , reviewed on 1/9/2010 + 412 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

#4 Maisie Dobbs series, set in post-WWI England. Maisie, a former nurse turned private investigator is hired by a young woman, Georgina Bassington-Hope, whose brother Nicholas has just died in what was ruled an accident when he fell from some scaffolding while preparing for an exhibition of his paintings. Georgina has a funny feeling that it was not an accident, and wants Maisie to figure out if her feeling has any substance to it.

Nicholas Bassington-Hope was very talented, and had been documenting the war in his latest paintings, a set that together is said to be his magnum opus--which are missing. He had them hidden away, not to be displayed to anyone until his exhibition, and no one knows where they are--or will admit to it. As Maisie visits Nick's friends and family and those associated with the art gallery, she begins to get the same feeling Georgina had, but nothing solid.

On the personal side, Maisie's assistant Billy Beale and his wife Doreen are having a bad time of it as their youngest child Lizzie is hospitalized with a severe case of diphtheria, and Maisie continues to settle in to her new home and resolves to figure out what she should do about her relationship with Dr. Andrew Dene.

This series just seems to get better the further along I read in it. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and until very close to the end, I did not figure out who the bad guy was--plenty of red herrings although in thinking back, the clues were there to be ferreted out. Looking forward to the next in series to see what direction the author takes Maisie in.

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