A Bird in the Hand

Ann Cleeves

A Bird in the Hand is the first novel featuring George and Molly Palmer-Jones by Ann Cleeves, author of the Shetland and Vera Stanhope crime series.

In England's birdwatching paradise, a new breed has been sighted a murderer . . .

Young Tom French was found dead, lying in a marsh on the Norfolk coast, with his head bashed in and his binoculars still around his neck. One of the best birders in England, Tom had put the village of Rushy on the birdwatching map. Everyone liked him. Or did they?

George Palmer-Jones, an elderly birdwatcher who decided quietly to look into the brutal crime, discovered mixed feelings aplenty. Still, he remained baffled by a deed that could have been motivated by thwarted love, pure envy, or something else altogether.

But as he and his fellow "twitchers" flocked from Norfolk to Scotland to the Scilly Isles, in response to rumours of rare sightings, George with help from his lovely wife, Molly gradually discerned the true markings of a killer. 224 pages.

Softback £9.99 £8.99