Customer Reviews

Death of a Songbird (Birdwatcher's Mysteries)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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The good news is that every room in the Elk Park, Colorado Drummond Hotel is filled due to the Migration Alliance hosting a convention here. The bad news is that two maids are ailing with the flu. The ugly news is that for some unexplained reason silent partner Esther Mills canceled the coffee shipment from their distributor, Chipe Coffee Company. The visible partner Lark Drummond cannot learn why her partner committed such a dramatic, seemingly criminal act of leaving the hotel nearing caffeine withdrawal syndrome and hurting their investment in the coffee distributing firm.

Lark meets Rachel Stanhope at a nearby restaurant where they observe a nasty public incident involving Esther. Lark and Rachel go birdwatching together, but instead of spotting a rare aviary, Lark observes someone murdering Esther. Proving birds of a feather stick together, Lark and several birdwatchers begin making their own inquiries, but soon uncover a plethora of viable suspects who had the motives to murder Esther.

DEATH OF A SONGBIRD is an entertaining amateur sleuth(s) tale that contains a story line that smoothly sings a bird song. The tale is fun because the key character Lark seems so real. Besides the lack of coffee causing many readers to think this is a horror story (required reading at night), Esther comes across as too mean for someone who apparently was held in such high esteem for more than just her business acumen. Still, readers will enjoy observing this book while using field binoculars to locate the first tale in this soaring series, A RANT OF RAVENS.

Harriet Klausner

This is a quick, fun mystery-read -- interesting, informative (talking about coffee production and markets and birding), and relaxing to spend time with. The characters have developed well since the author's first book (Rant of Ravens).

For Colorado readers -- or those who just love Colorado and it's mountains -- it's even more fun to read, as the book setting takes place in a town remarkably similar to Evergreen, Colorado.

I loved this book! The characters are engaging, the action fast-paced, and Goff's writing is filled with passion for her subject. In addition to this book being a marvelous read, I learned about the frighteningly close ties between coffee growth (shade grown vs. full-sun grown coffee) and the survival of our migratory song birds. I am shocked and dismayed at some of the facts Goff reveals. My 103-yr-old grandmother remembers skies full of birds and their extraordinary melodies, and she asks me where the birds have gone. I never fully appreciated her question until I read this book. An amazing read, a wonderful bite-your-nails conclusion, and an intelligent look at a topic that's important to all of us--or should be. Watch out, Nevada Barr, Goff is on your trail!

I love Estes Park (Elk Park), and couldn't resist a book which has this town as its setting. The story is well written and has a good number of red herrings and clues, plus a fair amount of bird information. I look forward to reading all of her books.

WOW! Christine Goff's second book, Death of a Songbird, provides mystery readers with everything required to lose a good night's sleep! Migratory birding, shade grown coffee and murder colide in Goff's Elk Park. In Songbird she twists characters and plot together seemlessly making me impatient for the third in the series so I can discovere more about those amazing birders in Elk Park, Colorado!

This second book of the Birdwatcher's Mystery Series features Lark Drummond, the owner of a luxury hotel near Rocky Mountain National Park.
Lark has become a partner, along with her friend Esther, in a business which imports organically-grown coffee from Mexico. When Esther is murdered, Lark becomes more closely involved in the business and in the investigation into Esther's death. This series always involves more than a mystery, and in this book the reader learns about organic coffee production and the Red-faced Warbler. This is the 4th. book in this series that I have read and so far it's my favorite one.

I wasn't familiar with Christine Goff when I picked this book out, but the story intriqued me so I bought it. From the very beginning it is fast paced which is really a plus in a mystery, for me anyway. The story and plot were very well done and I couldn't wait to get back to the book each time I put it down. The heroine, Lark Drummond, owns a luxury hotel outside a small town in Colorado. She witnesses the death of her friend and business partner, Estelle through her spotting scope while on a bird watching outing. The trouble comes at the worst time when the hotel is packed with hundreds of birding convention goers. But suspects and motives pile up fast. I would highly recommend the book if you like fast paced action and believable characters all set in the beauty of the mountains and lakes of Colorado. You also learn a little about different birds and bird facts. I will go back and try to find Ms. Goff's first book, "A Rant of Ravens."