Happy Reading

Toni's bookshelf: read

The Godfather of Kathmandu (Sonchai Jitpleecheep, #4)
Ape House
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
Operation Napoleon
Walking Dead
The Sentimentalists
The Heretic Queen
The Midnight House
Cross Fire
Peony in Love
Absurdistan
Nefertiti
Finding Nouf: A Novel
City of Veils: A Novel
First Daughter
A Place of Hiding
Amagansett
Peter Pan


Toni Osborne's favorite books »
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Saturday, March 11, 2017

"A Shimmer of Hummingbirds", by Steve Burrows

Book 4, in A Birder Murder Mystery series

This is the 2nd book I have read in the series, I simply couldn’t resist asking for it when it became available from Dundurn via NetGalley and I was most happy to have received an advance copy, thank you.

This birding series is an original police procedural and a delight to read featuring the debonair detective Dominic Jejeune. The drama in each is cleverly thought and excitingly transmitted but I do think it is preferable to read this series in sequence, otherwise you will wonder what is going on with Damian, Dominic’s fugitive brother “A Simmer of Hummingbirds” does touch the subject but does not clear up the mystery. In fact it left me so intrigued to learn more that I must read “A Pitying of Doves” and “A Cast of Falcons”, book 2 &3, the installments I missed.

In this latest, the storyline has two scenarios and the narrative alternates between the two. We have Dominic on a birding holiday in Colombia while doing so he takes a side trip and seeks for clues that would exonerate his brother: Damian was charged with murder. Meanwhile back in the UK the team have their hands full with a murder investigation of a local accountant.

This is an absorbing story from start to finish. Switching from one scenario to the other flows smoothly, definitely, Mr.Burrows is a master storyteller and knows how to keep the tension on and feeding it to us one drop at the time. The real strength is the characterization: the players are realistic, well-drawn and are the driving force in this book. Although part of the Birder mystery I found this installment doesn’t overwhelm us with names and descriptions of hummingbirds.

For mystery buffs who love originality have a go at this series.

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