Messenger of Truth

Sleuth Maisie Dobbs is hired to investigate the fatal accident of wealthy bohemian artist Nick Bassington-Hope in post-WWI London. As Dobbs hunts for the truth and Nick's missing paintings, Orlagh Cassidy unveils Maisie's character with a narration that makes a perfect composition of the text. Emotional tones convey post-war hopelessness and the painful division of the classes, adding to the mystery's tension. Characters are well defined with facile transitions, and dialogue between Maisie and her East End manservant points up the difference in their stations, as well as the warmth they have developed through working together. Writer and narrator give Maisie Dobbs a depth that results in an intriguing listen. S.W. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

Starred review from October 2, 2006
Broadway and television veteran Cassidy continues the subtle, sharp vocal performance that earned her awards for the audio version of Winspear's last Maisie Dobbs mystery, Pardonable Lies
. There's a lovely, old-fashioned lilt to Cassidy's reading, reminding listeners of the period (it's now 1931 in an England haunted at every level by the war that officially ended 14 years before). There's still a class battle going on, one that Maisie has straddled because of her unique background: a child of London's working class, put into service at 14, then rescued by a patroness who recognized her intelligence and sent her to study at Girton, Cambridge University's pioneering college for women. So Maisie can treat her working-class East London assistant with the same ease and understanding as she handles her current client—a woman from a wealthy, eccentric family whose twin brother, an important artist, was killed in a supposed accident. The bonus interview at the end with Winspear makes listeners realize how similar a mindset Maisie and the author possess. Cassidy and Dobbs are a match made in audio heaven. Simultaneous release with the Holt hardcover (Reviews, June 19).

Starred review from August 21, 2006
Broadway and television veteran Cassidy continues the subtle, sharp vocal performance that earned her awards for the audio version of Winspear's last Maisie Dobbs mystery,Pardonable Lies . There's a lovely, old-fashioned lilt to Cassidy's reading, reminding listeners of the period (it's now 1931 in an England haunted at every level by the war that officially ended 14 years before). There's still a class battle going on, one that Maisie has straddled because of her unique background: a child of London's working class, put into service at 14, then rescued by a patroness who recognized her intelligence and sent her to study at Girton, Cambridge University's pioneering college for women. So Maisie can treat her working-class East London assistant with the same ease and understanding as she handles her current client\x97a woman from a wealthy, eccentric family whose twin brother, an important artist, was killed in a supposed accident. The bonus interview at the end with Winspear makes listeners realize how similar a mindset Maisie and the author possess. Cassidy and Dobbs are a match made in audio heaven.Simultaneous release with the Holt hardcover (Reviews, June 19).