“Grief is not an event, my dear, but a passage, a pilgrimage along a path that allows us to reflect upon the past from points of remembrance held in the soul. At times the way is filled with stones underfoot and we feel pained by our memories, yet on other days the shadows reflect our longing and those happinesses shared.”

This is the fourth Maisie Dobbs mystery. Set in England between the wars, Maisie works as a private investigator and psychologist, along with her assistant Billy. She is ahead of her time in so many ways and I’ve enjoyed watching Maisie grow more confident as the series goes on.

This book focuses on inequality: Maisie is hired to investigate the suspicious death of a wealthy artist while trying to help Billy with his extremely ill daughter. There’s a stark contrast between wealthy people spending fortunes on a single piece of art while the Beal family cannot afford to take Lizzie to the doctor despite her severe illness. As usual, Maisie’s humanity shines through, she solves the tragic case of the fallen artist, and she holds her friends and family close.