Customer Reviews

Death Shoots a Birdie (Berkley Prime Crime Mysteries)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've been a fan of Christine Goff's bird-watcher series since the first, "A Rant for Ravens," but in "Death Shoots a Birdie," Ms. Goff takes her writing talents and skilled research to a level that deserves bestseller status. When Rachel Wilder and her friends visit a bird watching seminar in the Barrier Islands of Georgia, Rachel's pal Dorothy falls in love with one of the seminar's main speakers. And when Dororthy's crush becomes a murder suspect, well--its a thrill ride of suspense in the swamps. Watch out for those gators and poisonous snakes! And what a treasure hunt. Boy, did I love this book. And, as always, Ms. Goff knows how to thrill me without the blood and guts and foul language of so many bestsellers. I think this is the book that could send Ms. Goff into those rarified ranks.

If you love birds and murder mysteries you'll love all of Christine Goff's books. In "Death Shoots a Birdie" Rachel Wilder and her friends are off to a bird watching seminar in the Barrier Islands of Georgia. She just didn't expect her friend, Dorothy, to fall for one of the seminar's headliners or for him to be the prime suspect in a murder--and he sure looks guilty.

From encounters exotic birds, coral snakes, alligators and murderers to a hunt for treasure and an "extinct" species there's plenty of suspense and thrills to go around. No gore--and I for one am glad.

Christine excels in her ability to describe the environment Rachel moves through so well it feels like you are there.

[...].

There are some insights into why it is important to conserve and protect the species
of our abundant natural resources and the lengths people are willing to go for this
this to happen. I was given the first three books and purchased the fourth one from
Anazon. The book came very fast and was in excellant condition. My thanks to the supliers of Amazon for their rapid responce.

If you like mysteries that fail to intrigue, or if you like books centered around birds that throw out lots of bird names with a few obvious factoids about some, some appropriate and some not, this book is for you. It is an easy read. Characters are shallow, exposition is non-existent, and the plot is implausible to say the least. It's poorly edited - cypress trees are spelled as "Cyprus trees" in numerous places, and the author writes of "reeking havoc" in another. Keen eyed readers can easily spot lots of other grammatical and content-based errors. The timing of many biological events is off - the story takes place in early spring while yellow-rumped warblers are still around, yet alligators are supposedly nesting at this time. The siting of an ivory-billed woodpecker by a bunch of dilettantes in a heavily visited national wildlife refuge is a gratuitous and egregious addition. Jekyll Island, Georgia, is cleverly renamed Hyde Island. You can learn as much about birds by spending about ten minutes with a decent field guide. Probably better suited to the comic book genre.

Rachel Wilder and three of her friends decide to go to a birding seminar in Georgia. Rachel has been asked by her boyfriend to do some checking up on Guy Saxby, a renowned birder, but soon Saxby is wooing one of Rachel's friends. In contrast to the birders, there are developers who want to obtain land which is the nesting ground of the Painted Bunting.

Once again Christine Goff combines birding and murder and comes up with an interesting story which pits environmentalists against commercial developers. This one has the interesting setting of the barrier islands off the coast of Georgia. Anyone could enjoy this mystery, but it will be especially enjoyable to birders.