Junie
CarmichaelΒ stars in a lively, cosy mystery series set
in the coastal town of Thistleberry Point.Β As a
bookstore manager, she has made a lot of friends. The town
has invited birdwatchers to visit for a festival celebrating
the local bird sanctuary. This sparks MURDER WITH A SIDE OF
SEAGULL.Β
I need to say at the
outset that we see far fewer wild birds than I expected.
Most scenes are set in the bookshop or streets, and the main
bird in the picture is a cheeky African Grey parrot. This can be
explained by Junie getting extra store trade and needing to have
conversations with lots of people. The birdwatchers flock to her, instead.Β
Tragedy strikes with
the body of a birdwatcher, Millicent Vale, found at the base
of a cliff. This upsets everyone and threatens to ruin the
festival. With her assistant Flo at The Next Chapter, and
Edgar, her parrot, Junie starts asking around for any
witnesses to the fall or anything suspicious. Some of the birders just want to feel important, like
Mark Mercer, who claims to have spotted a rare Ivory Gull. Rina Dodd has made
careful notations, but some organisers dismiss her efforts.
And trendy young Trevor Holt tells Junie he was piloting a
drone in the vicinity. He has to keep it quiet, as a lot of
the senior members dislike drones around nesting birds.Β
The story slides into
technological detail, for instance, about tracking bird
movements via radio tags. As with any bird sanctuary, the Thistleberry
Point area wants to know which birds arrive and leave at what seasons.
The only bird nobody seems to keep tabs on is Edgar, which
appears in all sorts of places and repeats snatches of
conversations. Heβs a smart bird whoβll do
anything for sunflower seeds.Β
I enjoyed the
storyline and how modern the field has become, with out-of-
town experts and influences called upon to add to the
impression of a bird sanctuary as valuable land in more ways
than one. The
contrast between standing in a store and getting healthy outdoor exercise is strong. Tracy Auten has previously written culinary
mysteries and MURDER WITH A SIDE OF SEAGULL is the third in
this Junie
CarmichaelΒ Coastal Mystery series. Iβm hoping for more
nature fun and games next time.
Β
Junie Carmichael came back to Thistleberry Point to shelve novels, not corpses.
But when the town’s least-liked birdwatcher, Millicent, is found dead during the Bird and Book Invitational, Junie can’t help poking her beak into the case.
She’s got plenty of help. There’s Flo, her sharp-tongued sidekick with a heart as big as the harbor, and Edgar, her parrot who repeats suspicious phrases at the worst (and funniest) times.
Together they stumble into secrets hidden under feathers and files.
Was it Mark Mercer, the puffed-up birder whose wings Millicent clipped in a very public squabble? Or Rina Dodd, the jittery naturalist whose nervous notes Millicent loved to peck apart?
Each looks guilty in the right light.
The deeper Junie digs, the clearer it becomes—the killer is still circling. And if she doesn’t crack the case soon, Junie could be the next gull to take a deadly dive.
No excerpt available.
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