Maisie Dobbs Mysteries: Birds of a Feather. .

BIRDS OF A FEATHER. (Maisie Dobbs Mysteries.) Jacqueline Winspear. 2004/2005. Read by Kim Hicks. 9 cds. 10.33 hrs. BBC Audiobooks America. 0-7927-3665-6. $89.95. Vinyl; plot, author, reader notes. SA

This mystery is set in London a decade after WWI. Charlotte Waite reads something in the morning newspaper that causes her to bolt from the breakfast table and flee her father's house. Charlotte's father, a domineering grocery magnate, hires Maisie Dobbs, a psychologist and investigator, to find Charlotte and bring her home. As part of her investigation Maisie learns that all three of Charlotte's good friends from their Swiss boarding school days have been brutally murdered. She must solve these crimes in order to locate Charlotte and keep her from becoming the fourth victim.

Hicks' slight British accent adds greatly to her outstanding reading. She fully voices the numerous characters. Especially noteworthy is her vocal interpretation of Maisie, a young woman who is sensitive, intelligent, perceptive, understanding, likable and wise beyond her years. An underlying theme, that the physical and emotional wounds of war often never heal, is skillfully integrated into this novel. This is the second in a series of three Maisie Dobbs novels, a sequel to Maisie Dobbs and followed by Pardonable Lies. Carol Kellerman, Lib/Media Spec., Santa Fe, NM