Set against the backdrop of the evacuation of the British forces from Dunkirk and on the eve of what everyone can feel is the coming Battle of Britain, private detective Maisie Dobbs investigates the mysterious death of a young painter apprentice working on a secret government contract.
If Jacqueline Winspear isn't quite Dame Agatha, To Die But Once is nevertheless a snappy read with an enticing plot. Fifteen-year-old Joe Coombes in the young apprentice; conveniently, his family was already acquainted with Maisie and her assistant, Billy Beale. As Billy quickly points out to Maisie, though, something just isn't quite right with the family. Priding herself as much on her work as a psychologist as a detective, Maisie teases the threads apart to solve the case.
While the secret government contract - a job painting all of the buildings on RAF bases with fire retardant - provides a bit of the wartime feel, Winspear has infused it throughout the book with talk of petrol coupons, rationing, and the evacuation from Dunkirk itself. This last is its own sub-plot, apart and unrelated to Joe Coombes's fate, as though reminding readers that whatever personal tragedies one may have faced during World War II, there the war loomed overhead, overshadowing even the worst pain. (With Dunkirk, too, I was reminded keenly of Natasha Solomons's The House at Tyneford, which makes an excellent choice for anyone interested in Dunkirk-themed historical fiction, but for whom mystery isn't quite the order of the day.)
Learning how much of the story was inspired by true events was the icing on top - and a rarity in mysteries.
All told, To Die But Once is a solid, four-star read.
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