Messenger Of Truth

Messenger Of Truth
Jacqueline Winspear
Picador
ISBN: 978-0-312-42685-9
Fiction, Mystery
Reviewed by Dave Thompson

A leading artist falls to his death on the eve of his latest exhibition, tumbling from the scaffolding from which he will hang his latest masterpiece. It’s an open and shut accident, given the vaguest hint of mystery by the fact that no-one has ever seen the masterpiece itself, and they don’t know where it is, either. Only it’s not so clear-cut after all, because the artist’s sister certainly doesn’t buy the easiest explanation, and hires Maisie Dobbs to find out what really happened. Which, of course, she will. This is Maisie’s fourth print adventure, and she’s not let us down yet.
With its setting of 1930s London, and adventures that certainly hinge on the genteel side of gripping, it’s very easy to compare the Maisie Dobbs mysteries with at least an average Agatha Christie, and therein lies the problem. Christie’s talent (or one of them) was the manner in which she placed the reader at ease, whatever situation she chose to set her tale in. From country house drawing rooms to speeding continental railroads, you knew instinctively where you were, what you might find and who you might meet.
Winspear has no such finesse. Time and again, she butts into the text, adorning each new concept with a few words of explanation, and it really starts to jar after a while, like trying to watch a comedy show with someone who insists on repeating all the jokes back at you.
Neither is the characterization especially gripping, with Maisie’s sidekick, the Cockney Billy Beale (yes, the meaning of “Cockney” is patiently explained) an ingratiating blend of chirpy cipher and Parker from television’s Thunderbirds. And he’s one of the lucky ones, other characters, including the bereaved sibling, drift through the book as little more than shadows, and you reach the end with no more concern for their well-being than you had when they first appeared on the page.
All of which is a shame, because there’s a great story buried beneath all the flaws and failings, and a cracking conundrum that really does take a fair bit of unraveling. But when you’re halfway through a cliff-hanging escapade and you suddenly realize that you don’t care what happens, then maybe it’s time to relax with another book entirely. Preferably, one that doesn’t behave like an over-bearing schoolma’am.