Elegy for Eddie by Jacqueline Winspear

Elegy for Eddie is the latest in the always enjoyable Maisie Dobbs series. Eddie Pettit was a gentle giant, a man who was a little "slow" but had a special gift for communicating with horses. One day, Eddie is killed in a factory accident. Friends of his mother's hire Maisie to find out who was behind his death. Her investigation leads to a reporter who was using Eddie for his own ends, to a childhood nemesis of Eddie's --and to the realization that another war with Germany is probably imminent, a thought that dismays Maisie greatly. I like the non-nonsense character of Maisie. She's not what you'd call "warm and fuzzy"--and I wish she had some girlfriends to pal around with--but you have to admire her commitment to helping others and her desire to maintain her own independence.