Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear (2004)

Read this back to back with the first in the series - Maisie Dobbs. Both wonderful, psychological portraits of post-WWI England, set within a classical mystery story with the bright, intuitive, meticulous, but lonely character of Maisie Dobbs. This time she is asked to find the adult daughter of a rich self-made man, who has run away. When her friends start turning up dead, Maisie involves herself further. I am amazed at how well she can paint all the pains felt by people after the war - the pain of lost loved ones, the pain of lost health, the shame of survivors, the lack of men to marry, the distancing of some, drug addictions, etc. Painted with today's sensibilities, but in seemingly yesteryear's genteel language. One of the other things that surprised me in this series, is that Maisie was trained in meditation for calming and focusing and picking up the energies of other people and even of what may have happened. I can't remember another book where this is used without attributing it to magical elements.