Pardonable Lies

Book 3

In the third novel of this unique and masterly crime series, a deathbed plea from his wife leads Sir Cecil Lawton, KC, to seek the aid of Maisie Dobbs, psychologist and investigator. As Maisie soon learns, Agnes Lawton never accepted that her aviator son was killed in the Great War, a torment that led her not only to the edge of madness but also to the doors of those who practice the dark arts and commune with the spirit world. Determined to prove Ralph Lawton either dead or alive, Maisie is plunged into a case that tests her spiritual strength, as well as her regard for her mentor, Maurice Blanche. The mission will bring her to France and reunite her with her old friend Priscilla Evernden, who lost three brothers in the war, one of whom has an intriguing connection to the case.

Set against a finely drawn portrait of life between the World Wars, Pardonable Lies is “a thrilling mystery that will enthrall fans of Jacqueline Winspear’s heroine and likely win her new ones” (Detroit Free Press).

Macavity Award Winner for Best Historical Novel
Agatha Award Finalist for Best Novel
Bruce Alexander Award Finalist

Winspear excels in depicting trauma, the kind of long-term grief that characters, particularly her restrained Britons, express only in a gesture or a word.
Boston Globe
The mood and atmosphere of the period ring with authenticity, and the class tension
that underlies many of Maisie’s dealings lends the narrative extra sparkle.
San Francisco Chronicle

Maisie Dobbs takes her place in the upper echelon of literary female detectives… Pardonable Lies is as stylish as a whodunit gets.
BookPage

Winspear carefully crafts each sentence, building toward a thrilling and emotional conclusion.
Library Journal
Maisie Dobbs is a joy.
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)

The Maisie Dobbs Series