Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear

Maisie is in for the most difficult case of her life. A friend of Lord Compton’s, Cecil Lawton promises his wife on her death bed that he would find out if their son Ralph survived the war or not. So not only does she have to do her best to find out the truth but also Maisie will have to face some of her own past as well. That is not something she has done yet. It will test her strength and her friendship to Maurice Blanche. Her old friend Patricia Evernden asks for help in finding out what happened to her brother as well. The connections found will surprise Maisie and hopefully help her deal with her past.

Ms. Winspear has such emotion in her books. Her characters have a lot to deal with living when they do but that never seems to slow them down for too long. The things that happened in this book were hard to handle at times but I just had to keep reading. A lot of trust was tested but it was going to take awhile to heal. Ms. Winspear does a fabulous job of describing what places look like so I feel that I am right there.

Maisie is such a sweetheart. I felt horrible with the things that happened to her. I had to know who was behind it all. Maisie kept going no matter what she was told because she was being paid to find out the truth. I feel like she would have done it even without the pay but she has to make a living somehow. Maurice really surprised me in this book. The things that he had done and were still involved in shocked me. Old friends reappeared in this book for Maisie and the things she was asked to do was not always good. Things finally caught up with the poor lady and I truly felt for her. She was doing her best at setting things to rest and then new things kept coming up.

I really do enjoy this series. It is something to be cherished. I learned a lot about that time period and cannot wait to pick up the next one. Maisie is a character I can still relate to even though I was never involved in a war. Her job at finding the truth makes me want to seek that out in my own life everyday. Ms. Winspear has a treasure on her hands and it just keeps getting better.


Jacqueline Winspear/342 pages/ Mystery/ Historical/ 4 out of 5

I am now reading a review book and then onto Messenger of Truth, the fourth book in the Maisie Dobbs series.