Soho, 2003.
Review published Jan 2017.
Birds of a Feather was evidently the second book in the Maisie Dobbs series. Maisie, a poor child who was fortunate to go into service with a sensitive and caring upper class family, was trained in criminal psychology, such as it existed early in the twentieth century. She shows such talent that she is able to set herself up as a private investigator in London.
In this book she is hired to find a wealthy man's grown daughter, who has run away before. When some of the daughter's acquaintances are murdered, Maisie's search evolves into a criminal investigation, and ties back to the enormous enlistment of British youth in the Great War.
Birds of a Feather is more than a whodunit; it's an exploration of the good and bad in people, and how apparently patriotic acts might destroy families.