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Jacqueline Winspear's first novel in this series, MAISIE DOBBS, introduced us in great detail to the eponymous investigator, her history and methods, and picked up the Agatha Award for Best First Novel. Whilst more biographical than mysterious for large sections, it promised much for the series to follow. BIRDS OF A FEATHER delivers on that promise. With the history of the characters well established, this time we are launched straight into an intriguing investigation. It is 1930 and Maisie now has established herself as a successful investigator and psychologist, and moved into more upmarket offices in Fitzroy Square with her assistant, the loyal Billy Beale, who she first encountered as a patient whilst serving as a nurse during the Great War. The duo are summoned to Dulwich by wealthy businessman Joseph Waite whose daughter Charlotte has disappeared. Charlotte is no child, she's about 30, and has bolted from home several times before. But Joseph wants her found and returned home. Maisie soon suspects that Charlotte was prompted to run by a newspaper story concerning the murder of another woman of a similar age, and has a good idea of where she might have hidden herself. Unable to pursue her suspicions immediately, she starts preparations to interview Charlotte's friends but when one of them is murdered it seems clear that Charlotte herself is either at great risk, or perhaps involved in the murders personally. Maisie and Billy work relentlessly to follow up all possible leads and to learn more about the Waite International Foods empire, as well as Charlotte and her former friends. In so doing they illuminate the physical and emotional distress of a nation still coming to terms with what they suffered during the war. The story is a real page-turner, as we whizz around London and the Kent countryside with Maisie in her little red MG. Happily, the very strong plot is not at the expense of characterisation, and there are important developments in Maisie's relationship with her father, her self-awareness, and hints of romance to come. Meanwhile, Billy struggles to cope with his war wounds and we learn more about his family and their experience of the war. Jacqueline Winspear has a wonderful talent to take us to a period of recent history, shine a light on events and characters that were previously mere footnotes in our knowledge, and make us feel their emotional consequences. BIRDS OF A FEATHER is not just a highly engaging mystery, it's an education.
Reviewed by Bridget Bolton, February 2005
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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