Frank H. (perryfran) reviewed on 5/26/2018 + 1223 more book reviews

Another good entry in the Maisie Dobbs series. I have been reading these novels sporadically -- this is the third I have read. In this one, Maisie is hired by Georgina Bassington-Hope to look into the apparent accidental death of her brother, Nick. Georgina has a gut feeling that Nick's death was not accidental and may have been a murder. Nick had been preparing an art exhibit and had fallen from a scaffold resulting in a broken neck and death. But had he been pushed? The police think not and after a cursory investigation, decided the death was accidental. Maisie intuitively agrees with Georgina and decided to take the case. This leads her on a journey into the art world and also a smuggling operation involving moving art from Europe. The novel takes place in 1931, over ten years after the end of the Great War but the effects of this horrific war are still on the minds of many who lost loved ones. This includes Nick's sister, Nolly, who lost her husband during the conflict and much of Nick's art has to do with the War and its consequences. Could this be something that could possibly lead to Nick's death? Another theme of this book is the destitution of many in Britain during the years of the Great Depression that not only affected the U.S. but the rest of the world as well. Maisie's assistant, Billy, lives among the most destitute and has been trying to provide for his family as well as his in-laws who have nowhere else to live. The dreaded disease diphtheria also hits Billy's family hard when their youngest daughter contracts it.

Overall, I thought this was an all right entry in the series but I felt it sometimes dragged a little especially when Maisie was dealing with the Bassington-Hope family who I really didn't feel a lot of sympathy toward. But I would still recommend this to readers of the series and I will definitely be continuing with the other novels.

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