Pardonable Lies
Jacqueline Winspear
Reviewed by Sarra Borne
The third in the Maisie Dobbs series, Pardonable
Lies,
maintains the high quality of writing evident in her first two
mysteries.
Author Jacqueline Winspear transports us back to the 1930’s, when the
Great War
(WW1) was still fresh in the mind. Maisie Dobbs served as a nurse in France
during that engagement, after the war, with help from mentor Maurice
Blance,
she attended college and became a psychologist and detective.
In this book, Maisie is asked to lend her expert
assistance
on three cases. The first, to prove an impoverished young girl innocent
of a
crime that might send her to the gallows. The second, to discover the
fate of
the brother of her closest friend and confidante, reported dead by the
military. Her third case is to discover whether a young aviator shot
down over France
is dead or alive. His father, Sir Cecil Lawton, doesn’t really care one
way or
the other but feels he must fulfill the deathbed promise made to his
wife.
As she investigates, she learns that there are a few
intertwining threads among these three seemingly unrelated stories.
Probing
deeper, she discovers shadowy figures following her and an attempt is
made on
her life. But which case is the one that inspires such passion?
In order to get to the heart of the matter, Maisie forces
herself to return to France
where she is still haunted by her memories of nursing wounded soldiers.
She
must confront her demons and put her past behind her - or suffer the
consequences.
Jacqueline Winspear has written a highly complex and
masterful story. Readers will gain a real feel for the time between the
two
World Wars from all the exquisite detail Winspear has painstakingly
included.
Maisie herself is an appealing, imperfect heroine, who is more than
ready to
admit her faults, showing a character that is all that much more
authentic.