Elegy for Eddie by Jacqueline Winspear

In 1933, private detective Maisie Dobbs is hired by five men who knew her when she was a girl to find out if the death of Eddie Pettit at Bookhams, a paper factory, was an accident or murder. Eddie worked with the horses at Bookhams and did errands around the place. As Maisie delves into Eddie's life, she finds not everyone liked him, despite his gentle, kind nature. When Maisie's assistant, Billy, is viciously attacked and put in the hospital, she feels personally responsible, since he was questioning factory workers. She also wonders what information someone is trying to keep secret. Against the backdrop of Hitler's rise to power and how it affects England and the rest of the world, Winspear has written another mystery that's hard to put down. With its combination of intriguing characters and interesting historical backdrop, Elegy for Eddie is another winner. It will be published in March.