I actually bought this book for my aunt, because I knew she would enjoy the charming Maisie Dobbs and the wonderful writing of the author. I look forward to the next Maisie and I will read it as slowly as the others, to savor the rich descriptions and characters. The descriptions of city and countryside settings and of time periods, as each book moves forward in time, is a door to the past for me.

Birds of a Feather is one of the Maise Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear. The lady has a remarkable ability to put across the period of World War I and its aftermath for a reader. Her understanding of people and their motives, of society's pressures and its effects on individuals comes across with each book I've read. Her depth in approaching her characters is far greater than most murder mysteries, and her sympathetic treatment of even her murderers is both novel and encouraging. Her writing is so readable, I often become so engaged with her characters and their lives that I forget to try to figure out "who dunnit," rare for me since I enjoy the puzzle. That is a good writer of fiction.

Jacqueline Winspear brings her delightful and refreshing female sleuth, Maisie Dobbs, back for a second adventure in Birds of a Feather. The title of this novel was curious because Maisie kept referring to coincidences not as a random happening but at "messengers of truth." This threw me off a little as I know that the fourth installment in this series is titled Messenger of Truth. Could Winspear have been doing a little foreshadowing? I guess I'll have to wait and see.

In Birds of a Feather, Maisie has been hired by Joseph Waite, a wealthy and influential businessman and philanthropist, to locate and bring home his daughter Charlotte. Never mind that Charlotte is a grown woman. Waite thinks, no, believes, that Charlotte should be where he can keep an eye on her. Not that Charlotte needs it; she is a natural-born leader like her father. Waite has his reasons that I won't mention so as not to spoil a good read.

As Maisie and her assistant Billy Beale begin their investigation, they soon stumble into the murder investigation of one of Charlotte's finishing-school friends. And it seems that the other two girls with whom Charlotte was close to before the Great War (WWI) have also turned up dead in recent weeks. Who could be killing them and why? What could four spoiled rich girls have done to warrant murder? Maisie and Billy are determined to find out, but the key question that remains is: Is Charlotte next?

A small piece of over-looked evidence at each of the three murder scenes leads Maisie and Billy on a quest to find out what is truly behind Charlotte's disappearance. Maisie has her hands full when she realizes that her beloved assistant is once again turning to drugs to ease the pain in his war-injured leg.

I enjoyed Birds of a Feather and I look forward to reading Maisie's next adventure. There were a tad too many details in the first half of this episode, but I think I learned more about life in England after WWI. What was chilling for me was to learn that the reason Charlotte's friends were killed, and Charlotte next on the list, is a historical fact and one that is left out of all the history books I've ever read.

Armchair Interviews says: Most interesting read with a lot of historical facts.

Finally, an author that I don't want to put down. I'm also giving Maisie Dobbs books for birthday gifts this year.

Loved this book! Went out and bought the other three as well! I really like the character Maisie Dobbs and I love her method of working, using psychology along with deduction and extensive footwork. I like her competence and I get the feeling that there her character and her career are going to escalate in future books. I'm looking forward to it!