Reminder Of Unhappy Truths

"Among the Mad," by Jacqueline Winspear (Henry Holt, $25)

When Jacqueline Winspear introduced us to Maisie Dobbs, she immediately established herself as an author who bears watching. She won several prestigious literary awards for that first novel (its title was the name of her heroine) and has now written five sequels, each of them adding to her reputation and depicting the graceful maturing of Dobbs.

Winspear has moved from England to California, but Dobbs remains in London where she has risen from an exceptionally ambitious and insightful member of Britain's servant class to prominence as a "psychological investigator" with close ties to Scotland Yard. She's very much a product of World War I, but - unlike the victims of what was then called "shell shock" - she has moved on, although the lessons she learned as a wartime nurse serve her well.

As "Among the Mad" opens, it is Christmas Eve, 1931, and Dobbs and her assistant, Billie Beale (an interesting character who bears his burdens with grace and courage), witness a sidewalk suicide that puzzles the authorities. They want to know not only why the prime minister has received a letter warning of widespread havoc if the writer's demands are not met, but why Dobbs was mentioned in the letter.

Because her name is in the letter, Dobbs is taken on (somewhat reluctantly) at Scotland Yard as a special adviser on the case. Not surprisingly, there is tension between the tradition-bound professional detectives and the female upstart, and it requires all of Dobbs' patience and insight to navigate the treacherous waters stirred up in the investigation.

The suspense comes from the urgent need to identify and deal with the person who issued the threat. One very real danger is that the wrong person will be suspected or that the best clues will be overlooked. The consequences of a miscalculation would be disastrous. "Among the Mad" reminds us that terrorism isn't just a recent phenomenon.

In the early days of the 1930s, far-right nationalists and Fascists were clamoring for attention on the fringes of British politics and they would remain an irritating presence in the nation's collective conscience, even sympathizing with Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, right up to World War II, which for the British began in 1939. Like the superb television series "Foyle's War" (seen locally on PBS), Winspear's latest novel reminds us of that unhappy truth, just as all her books have refreshed our memories about the enormity of the crimes against humanity that were far too commonplace in the 20th Century.

Readers who are drawn to mysteries or thrillers that are rich in blood and gore may find Winspear's novels far too tame for their tastes. They offer no profanity, no vulgarity, no gratuitous violence to excite the imagination. Rather, they offer intelligent, thoughtful and analytical behavior that many will find extremely rewarding.