Birds of a Feather - Hardcover

Winspear, Jacqueline

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1569473684 ISBN 13: 9781569473689

Publisher: Soho Press, 2004

Synopsis

Praise for Maisie Dobbs:

"Maisie Dobbs is a quirky literary creation. If you cross-pollinated Vera Brittain’s classic World War I memoir, Testament of Youth, with Dorothy Sayers’s Harriet Vane mysteries and a dash of the old PBS series ‘Upstairs, Downstairs,’ you’d approximate the peculiar range of topics and tones within this novel. . . . Its intelligent eccentricity offers relief."—Maureen Corrigan, "Fresh Air" on NPR

"Deft. . . . Prepare to be astonished at the sensitivity and wisdom with which Maisie resolves her first professional assignment. . . . Winspear takes her through her ordeal with great compassion."—Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review

"Surprisingly fresh. . . . Winspear does a fine job with the ‘Upstairs, Downstairs’ aspects of the story, depicting the class tensions that inevitably arise as Dobbs climbs to a new station in life. Her progression from domestic staff to college student to wartime nurse to private investigator is both believable and compelling."—San Francisco Chronicle

Maisie Dobbs is back and this time she has been hired to find a wealthy grocery magnate’s daughter who has fled from home. What seems a simple case at first becomes complicated when Maisie learns of the recent violent deaths of three of the heiress’s old friends. Is there a connection between her mysterious disappearance and the murders? Who would kill such charming young women? As Maisie investigates, she discovers that the answers to all her questions lie in the unforgettable agony of The Great War.

Jacqueline Winspear was born and raised in England and later worked in publishing and as a marketing communications consultant in the U.K. before emigrating to the United States. She now lives in California and is a regular visitor to the United Kingdom. Birds of a Feather is her second novel featuring Maisie Dobbs.

About this title

About the Author

Jacqueline Winspear was born and raised in England, once worked as a nanny, later spent ten years in English publishing as a sales and marketing manager and now lives in Northern California with her husband. Birds of a Feather is her second novel featuring private investigator Maisie Dobbs.

Reviews

Adult/High School–The spirited heroine of Maisie Dobbs (Soho, 2003) is back to solve another puzzle in post-World War I London. Having been trained by a master detective, the former serving girl now a Cambridge graduate is hired by grocery magnate Joseph Waite to find his wayward daughter, Charlotte. What begins as a simple missing-person case evolves into the investigation of three murders, all of young women who were friends during the war. Charlotte may be the next target. Chock-full of period details such as how to start a 1920s-era MG, what to buy at the grocer's, what to wear in the country, soup kitchens, and heroin use, the novel follows Maisie's progress as she uses detection, psychology, and even yogalike centering to clear her mind. There is much substance to this mystery, which mines the situations brought about by the horrors of the war–both on the front and at home, and its still simmering aftermath–plus a hint of romance and the beginning resolution of two father-daughter rifts. The story flows easily, descriptions are vivid and apt, and character is limned quickly, with each an individual. This is an utterly enjoyable and painless history lesson and a well-plotted and consistent mystery that will appeal to teens looking for more than just historical fiction.–Susan H. Woodcock, Fairfax County Public Library, Chantilly, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

If the third time is a charm, then Winspear has a head start. Many claim her second book is an improvement over Maisie Dobbs, winner of the 2003 Agatha Award for Best First Mystery Novel. What critics admire most about Maisie is, as Marilyn Stasio dubs it, “the holistic philosophy that informs her humane methods.” Maisie doesn’t just gather up forensic evidence to make her case; instead, she tracks down the emotional core of a crime, a challenge made more daunting by the fragile psychology of the postwar world in which Winspear sets her fiction. Both heartfelt and thrilling, Birds of a Feather is that rare new breed, a distinctive entry into the crowded mystery genre.

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

The eponymous heroine of Winspear's promising debut, Maisie Dobbs (2003), continues to beguile in this chilling, suspenseful sequel set in England a decade after the end of the Great War. Maisie, "Psychologist and Investigator," as the brass nameplate on her office door declares, gets hired by a wealthy industrialist to find his only daughter, Charlotte Waite, who has gone missing. With the help of her cockney assistant, Billy Beale, Maisie sets out to learn all she can of Charlotte's habits, character and friends. No sooner has Maisie discovered the identities of three of these friends than they start turning up dead—poisoned, then bayoneted for good measure. At each crime scene is left a white feather. Increasingly preoccupied with these tragedies, Maisie almost loses sight of her original mission, until it becomes apparent that the murders and Charlotte's disappearance are related. As in her first novel, the author gives an intelligent and absorbing picture of the period, providing plentiful details for the history buff without detracting from the riveting mystery. Readers will be eager to see more of the spunky Maisie, with her unusual career as a one-time maid, nurse and university student.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sinking into a novel this good is as satisfying as sinking into a good leather chair: we know we are in for the duration, and it feels right. Although alert readers will probably tease out the murderer about halfway through, the journey is worth it, for we are in the company of Maisie Dobbs, a P.I. who bears the scars of service as a nurse in the Great War. When the owner of a chain of London food halls hires her to find his daughter, Maisie is intrigued as Charlotte Waite is in her thirties and has run away before. Then several women with ties to Charlotte are murdered--morphine and a bayonet to the heart. Maisie teases this all out while practicing both the careful observance and interior meditation her mentor has taught her. Maisie, who has gone from being in service to a graduate of Girton at Cambridge, is as intelligent and engaging a sleuth as one might desire: the period touches, from clothing to manners, are not only elegantly presented but unostentatious. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Soho Press
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1569473684
• ISBN 13: 9781569473689
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 360