Sick as a Parrot (A Grace Smith Investigation) [Hardcover]

Liz Evans (Author)

Book Description

Series: A Grace Smith Investigation | Publication Date: May 1, 2004

Adopted at birth, Hanna Conti attempts to trace her family. She turns up a mother who, 20 years earlier, was convicted of murder. Convinced that her mother is innocent, Hannah hires PI Grace Smith to prove it. Grace uncovers the story of the very messy murder of Janet Hepburn, a teacher at St. Martin’s Comprehensive, but there are a lot of people who’d rather she stopped digging. On Grace’s side (or possibly not) is an ex-cop with a shady past and Betterman177, a mysterious emailer who sends tantalizing clues about what was happening at St. Martin’s two decades ago. To add to these complications, Grace has been conned into bird-sitting a psychotic parrot, and Terry Rosco, the most chauvinistic cop in Seatoun, is trying to move into Grace’s spare room. And, oh yes—someone keeps trying to kill her.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“… wild and weird plots and a heroine… who is nearly as spunky, sassy, and wacky as Stephanie Plum.” -- Booklist

“Evans is billed as England's answer to Janet Evanovich, but this sells her short. Sure to please an American audience.” -- Library Journal

“Hip, zany PI Grace Smith… as always, provides plenty of laughs, fast–moving action and suspense.” -- Publishers Weekly

“Just when you think you've solved it, Evans throws another twist into this clever puzzle.” -- Kirkus Reviews

“One of Britain’s more unnerving private eyes… all is handled with humor and aplomb.” -- Library Journal

“The stories are a sheer delight for readers in need of an escape from an all–too–serious world.” -- Booklist --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From the Publisher

Adopted at birth, Hanna Conti attempts to trace her family. She turns up a mother who, twenty years earlier, was convicted of murder. Convinced that her mother is innocent, Hannah hires PI Grace Smith to prove it. Grace uncovers the story of the very messy murder of Janet Hepburn, a teacher at St. Martin’s Comprehensive—but there are a lot of people who’d rather she stopped digging. On Grace’s side (or possibly not) is an ex–cop with a shady past (and present) and Betterman177, a mysterious emailer who sends tantalizing clues about what was happening at St. Martin’s two decades ago. To add to these complications, Grace has been conned into bird–sitting a psychotic parrot, and Terry Rosco, the most chauvinistic cop in Seatoun, is trying to move into Grace’s spare room. And, oh yes—someone keeps trying to kill her.

A BookSense 76 Top 10 Mystery Author --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Orion Publishing (May 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0752859811
• ISBN-13: 978-0752859811
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,678,899 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books I've read recently - funny and well plotted, June 24, 2005

By 

M. C. Crammer (Decatur, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Sick as a Parrot (Pi Grace Smith Investigations) (A Grace Smith Investigation) (Paperback)

Liz Evans has been compared to Evanovich, only British. I can understand the comparisons, because her detective is female and funny, but I enjoyed this book more than I've enjoyed Evanovich (although I have read everything by her and look forward to her new books as well). This book was much better plotted than anything I've read by Evanovich, and the humor is a bit subtler.

Much of the humor involves a parrot that detective Grace Smith ends up agreeing to babysit (in exchange for free meals and some cash while she does this). Only after she takes the bird home does she learn that the parrot is 1) very talkative and 2) can't stand to be left alone -- dire consequences when this happens. You can imagine the humor in having to either take the parrot with her (in a carrying cage) or find someone to stay with the bird while she conducts various parts of the investigation of her case.

Then there's the policeman who keeps showing up at her doorstep wanting to spend the night because his wife has kicked him out -- Grace can't stand him but somehow ends up taking him in again and again. This interferes with a budding romance with a mysterious man who gets involved in the same case she's investigating.

Oh yes, there is a case. A young woman comes to see her, wanting to know more about her birth mother -- who she has learned did time for murder. The hope is that the mother can be proved innocent. This is made more difficult by the fact that the birth mother (now out of jail) wants nothing to do with her daughter or her daughter's P.I.

I found myself bursting out laughing at parts, and I also could hardly wait to find out more about the case Grace is investigating. It was a real page-turner. I can hardly wait to read other books by this author -- I hope others discover her so that it will be somewhat easier to get her books in this country.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spunky Brit gets it done - again, June 29, 2006

By 

Wendy "madame c" (Weare, NH, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sick as a Parrot (A Grace Smith Investigation) (Paperback)

Grace Smith is everything a detective should be - smart, willing to kick [...] when necessary, witty, daring, and able to take care of herself.

Unlike so many U.S. mystery series these days - "Sick as a parrot" is NOT a thinly veiled romance novel. It's funny, engrossing, action filled, with even a little sex - but not one of those lamed "does he like me? is he too dangerous for me?" bits of tripe that ruin the genre. Grace gets it done - again!

I'll never see another parrot without thinking about how it would look in clothes

3.0 out of 5 stars Mysterious grey - or just mischievous?, August 13, 2008

By 

John S. Geary (Vancouver, B.C., Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sick as a Parrot (A Grace Smith Investigation) (Paperback)

Like a couple of other mysteries I've reviewed on Amazon.com, ("The Final Solution" and "We'll Always Have Parrots") this tale of mystery and mayhem also involves an African grey (funny how these guys seem to entwine themselves in mysteries, isn't it?) although the bird is not involved in a murder.

While trying to prove a client's mother innocent of a 20-year-old murder, PI Grace Smith is conned into baby-sitting a somewhat psychotic parrot named Tallulah. The bird is a feather-picker and has a very unique vocabulary coupled with a real knack for getting into mischief (No! Not a grey!)

Although I enjoyed the book as a mystery, since the parrot angle was really just a secondary story, I didn't enjoy it as much as the other two that involved African greys within the main story lines. (Hey, I love mysteries, but I love parrots even more!) Again, like the Donna Andrews book, the cover art is wrong: there is a picture of a macaw instead of a grey, even though the grey is the only parrot in the story.

It sure would be nice if art directors would read at least enough of the story in order to feature the proper parrot species, even if it does not necessarily make the most colorful type of parrot for a cover ... .