Reviews
'Hummingbirds is a well-constructed examination of the ties that bind and unbind us, at work and within families.', 'Riveting.... Burrows keeps the tension high all the way to the chilling climax. Bird lovers will enjoy the avian lore.', 'It is difficult to know what non-birders might make of all this, but it is different enough to be an interesting addition to the crime genre and worth the read.', A Canadian detective living in Britain pursues cases on two continents. Chief Inspector Dominic Jejeune's brother, Damian, who put Dominic's career in jeopardy in A Cast of Falcons (2016), has gone missing in Colombia, where he's wanted for causing the deaths of Indigenous people while leading a bird-watching tour. Dominic is a brilliant police officer whose outside-the-box reasoning and sudden flashes of intuitive thinking set him apart as he risks his career to help his brother. Both Jejeunes are avid birders, but when Dominic signs up for a tour with the company Damian worked for, the tour owners and the Colombian authorities rightly think he has an ulterior motive. Back in Saltmarsh, England, Dominic's boss, Colleen Shepherd, has drafted DI Marvin Laraby to take over Dominic's cases, beginning with the murder of Erin Dawes. With the help of evidence provided by Sgt. Maik and Constable Salter, Laraby arrests Robin Oakes, a wildlife photographer living in the gatehouse of his ruined estate. Oakes, a partner in a scheme set up by the murdered woman to provide land and capital for a drone company specializing in reforesting remote areas, is just the kind of person the class-conscious Laraby despises as a useless parasite. Laraby, a solid detective who has a troubled history with Dominic--whose brilliance is sometimes off-putting to his colleagues--soon worms his way into the good graces of everyone but Sgt. Maik. In Colombia, Dominic is joined by a lifelong birding friend, Juan "Traz" Perez, who pretends not to speak Spanish in hopes of learning something about Damian. Their tour is filled with the joy of seeing exotic birds and a near-death experience for Dominic, whose girlfriend in Saltmarsh, Lindy Hey, is nearly killed herself in what's apparently an accidental gas explosion. Dominic returns when he's done all he can for his brother only to find that Laraby, who released Oakes and arrested another man involved in the scheme, has gotten it wrong again, leaving Dominic to cleverly clean up the mess. Skillfully written, full of moral ambiguities and artful puzzles, with a spine-tingling final sentence., Add these birder murder mysteries to your reading list ... With titles like 'A Siege of Bitterns' and 'A Cast of Falcons' to his name, novelist Steve Burrows mixes birds and whodunits to great acclaim., 'Burrows' writing improves with every novel, and Jejeune continues to be an exciting, multidimensional, thoroughly engaging series lead. A splendid instalment in a fine series.', 'Action...alternates between Colombia and Norfolk in this enjoyable book, where Burrows' gift for haunting landscape descriptions is much in evidence.', 'A well-paced and plotted story that jumps seamlessly between the frigid climes of the English seashore to the humid rainforests of Colombia.', ' Hummingbirds is a well-constructed examination of the ties that bind and unbind us, at work and within families.', 'Skillfully written, full of moral ambiguities and artful puzzles, with a spine-tingling final sentence.', Burrows' splendid Birder Murder Mystery series, originally published in Canada, is finally getting a wide distribution in the U.S. This is the fourth installment in the series, and in many ways it's the best of the bunch. Chief Inspector Domenic Jejeune, a Canadian expat working in Norfolk, England, is currently on leave. He's gone off to Colombia, ostensibly on a birding holiday but really to see if he can find something to dig his fugitive brother out from under a manslaughter charge. Back home in England, Jejeune's colleague, the much-despised Marvin Laraby, is investigating a homicide; when Jejeune uncovers some surprising truths about the murder case, he's torn between sacrificing his job or letting a killer go free. Burrows' writing improves with every novel, and Jejeune continues to be an exciting, multidimensional, thoroughly engaging series lead. A splendid installment in a fine series., Praise for the Birder Murder Mysteries: 'A murder plot built around birdwatching doesn't, at first, seem plausible or even possible. But Burrows pulls it off...Riveting from first page to final line.' Globe and Mail 'A suspenseful and well-crafted mystery perfect for the beach.' Morning Star 'A neatly-constructed and well-told police procedural. If you like north Norfolk you'll feel as though you're there. If you like birds you'll feel as though you're in heaven.' The Bookbag 'A cleverly written novel that proves A Siege of Bitterns wasn't just an offbeat one-off. This blend of procedural and cosy is just right for followers of M. C. Beaton's Hamish Macbeth.' Booklist, Praise for the Birder Murder Mysteries : 'A murder plot built around birdwatching doesn't, at first, seem plausible or even possible. But Burrows pulls it off...Riveting from first page to final line.' Globe and Mail 'A suspenseful and well-crafted mystery perfect for the beach.' Morning Star 'A neatly-constructed and well-told police procedural. If you like north Norfolk you'll feel as though you're there. If you like birds you'll feel as though you're in heaven.' The Bookbag 'A cleverly written novel that proves A Siege of Bitterns wasn't just an offbeat one-off. This blend of procedural and cosy is just right for followers of M. C. Beaton's Hamish Macbeth.' Booklist, 'The Birder Murders are getting better and better as they come off the presses, with A Shimmer of Hummingbirds the most dazzling of all -- so far.', 'Readers don't have to be birders to appreciate the two parallel investigations, and the solid police work in a mystery marked by well-developed characters and topical environmental issues. For aficionados of British procedurals.'
