Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

Yes, I’m still avoiding the review that’s going to require more thought and emotional commitment.  On the other hand, I finished listening to Birds of a Feather last night–the second installment in Jacqueline Winspear’s ‘Maisie Dobbs’ series–so I’m reviewing that, and that’s something, right?

First of all, I definitely enjoyed Birds of a Feather enough to keep going in the series; the setting is a draw for me, but I also find the characters worth spending time with, as a whole.  Hired to track down a missing heiress, Maisie finds herself investigating the murders of a group of women who formed a group in their school days and immediately afterwards.  Her assistant, on the other hand, has been struggling more and more with the chronic pain from his war wound, and his efforts to control it form a side plot that ultimately connects Maisie’s London life with her Kent roots.  There were a few plot devices that frustrated me–yes, Maisie, you absolutely SHOULD inform the DI that you found a specific item at two different crime scenes as well as the scene of a “suicide,” and surely you’re smart enough to preemptively inform that same DI about your assistant’s visit to a murder victim instead of thinking that perhaps someone else of the same description did so on the same day–but overall, the setting and story won me over.  I’ll be interested to see what the next installment brings!