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BookBrowse Reviews Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear

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Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear

Birds of a Feather

A Maisie Dobbs Mystery

by Jacqueline Winspear
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (3):
  • Readers' Rating (4):
  • First Published:
  • Jun 1, 2004, 360 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Aug 2005, 320 pages
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About This Book

Reviews

BookBrowse:


Maisie is as intelligent and engaging a sleuth as one might desire. Mystery set in the 1920s
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From the book jacket: 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.

Comment: I wanted to recommend Jacqueline Winspear's first book featuring Maisie Dobbs (called simply 'Maisie Dobbs' - 2003), but unfortunately the publisher was unable to provide an excerpt at the time, which is, of course, an integral part of every recommendation at BookBrowse.  However, happily this wasn't a problem with 'Birds of a Feather' - the second in this very satisfying series. Readers familiar with the 1st World War period may well figure out a few of the clues ahead of Maisie, but that doesn't matter, as the journey with Masie is so enjoyable.

The Maisie Dobbs series is a shoe-in to be made into a PBS mystery series - but if you love good historical mysteries, don't wait years to see the books flattened onto the TV screen, instead rush out and grab a copy of either book today!

'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.....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.' - Booklist.

This review first ran in the August 3, 2005 issue of BookBrowse Recommends.

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Read-Alikes

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If you liked Birds of a Feather, try these:

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    A frightening yet delicious drama of dark surprises - where social codes are uprooted and desire daringly trumps propriety - alight with Edwardian wit and opulence.

  • The House at Riverton jacket

    The House at Riverton

    by Kate Morton

    Published 2009

    About This book

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    The House at Riverton is a gorgeous debut novel set in England between the wars. It is the story of an aristocratic family, a house, a mysterious death and a way of life that vanished forever, told in flashback by a woman who witnessed it all and kept a secret for decades.

We have 8 read-alikes for Birds of a Feather, but non-members are limited to two results. To see the complete list of this book's read-alikes, you need to be a member.
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