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Birds of a Feather

by Jacqueline Winspear

Jacqueline Winspear is a fairly new addition to the murder mystery scene, with Birds of a Feather only her second book – both volumes featuring Maisie Dobbs, an English female sleuth in the early 1900's when the rules of etiquette were a good deal more formalized than they are today. Automobiles were still a novelty, and servants abounded for the rich. Jacqueline Winspear's take on that period is obviously the result of research, since by her jacket photo she can hardly be that old! And good research it is. Anyone who revels in the thirty years or so immediately following Queen Victoria's death will be enchanted.

In Birds of a Feather, Maisie is imperiously summoned to the presence of one Joseph Waite, a wealthy man who rules his household with an iron hand. His daughter Charlotte has gone missing, and he instructs Maisie to find her. Charlotte has evidently absconded before, perhaps to get away from her cold, unemotional father. One clue to where she might be located is found in Charlotte's room by Maisie's assistant, Billy Beale, a man who limps from a wound received in the Great War, and is usually in pain.

Maisie uses intuition feely in her work. After a reconstruction of the last scene between Charlotte and her father, in which Billy displays his own intuitive powers, Maisie visits one of Joseph Waite's shops and learns he had a son – who died in the Great War. Maisie then begins her inquiries with Charlotte's former friends, including her prior finaceé, Gerald Bartrup. Billy has since discovered the newspaper Charlotte was reading when her father last saw her contained an article describing the murder of one of Charlotte's previous close friends, a Philippa Sedgewick. Then when Maisie goes to the house of Mrs. Lydia Fisher, a woman who has become addicted to drink and another in the foursome of which Charlotte was once a part, Maisie finds her murdered in exactly the same way as Philippa.

Inspector Stratton of the Murder Squad is immediately called, and arrives with his sergeant, Caldwell. Since Billy Beale had been to see Mrs. Fisher just before she was murdered (in order to pave the way for Maisie's appointment), he is suspected to be the murderer. No motive can be found, however. Another complication ensues when Billy's wife visits Maisie to tell her that Billy has been acting strangely – something Maisie has noticed herself.

One of the things revealed as Maisie searches for Charlotte is the interest Charlotte had in convents – and one in particular. Camden Abbey is also the place where the abbess, Dame Constance Charteris, was once Maisie's instructor. But before Maisie can go to see Dame Constance, she comes up against still another murder – also a member of Charlotte's former tight-knit group. The woman's name is Rosamuinde Thorpe. The murder method is identical to the first two, and now Maisie begins to fear for Charlotte's life.

Maisie finds Charlotte, of course, and learns that something the four women did in the past is the cause of the murderous revenge, and the reason for Charlotte attempting to hide. Although there is a connection between Charlotte's previous actions and her father, her parent's current treatment of her isn't the reason for her leaving home.

The murderer and the clues spread before you are easily overlooked in this novel, and a tribute to Jacqueline Winspear's writing. When Maisie solves the vicious deaths, you may be as surprised as I to find who the culprit was. The book ends happily, with Billy almost entirely free of pain, and Charlotte reunited with a father gradually changing for the better.

Jacqueline Winspear authors a fine mystery novel. Ms. Winspear may have a little to learn in heating up the action and increasing the pace of her narrative, but her plots are impeccable. The slightly slower action may simply be a reflection of that time period, but in any case it provides delightful reading.
Jacqueline Winspear, like most authors before her, will undoubtedly improve with each future book; but I'll encourage you not to wait. Become acquainted with Maisie Dobbs now.

Alan Paul Curtis

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