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A Bird in the Hand

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A Bird in the Hand

By: Ann Cleeves
Narrated by: Sean Barrett
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About this listen

Ann Cleeves Classic Crime - engaging mysteries to savour, beloved characters to meet again

A Bird in the Hand is the first mystery 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. All he had to do was prove it . . . before the murderer strikes again.

 Amateur Sleuths Cosy Crime Crime Fiction Detective Fiction Genre Fiction Mystery Small Town & Rural Scary Murder Suspense

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Critic reviews

A fine debut . . . watertight and exciting (Susan Hill)
It's splendid . . . a classic whodunnit
Cleeves is carving out a reputation as the new Queen of Crime
Nobody does unsettling undercurrents better than Ann Cleeves
Ann Cleeves is a skilful technician, keeping our interest alive and building slowly up to the denouement. Her easy use of language and clever story construction make her one of the best natural writers of detective fiction
Ann Cleeves has enviable talent . . . I love these books
A fine writer
All stars
Most relevant
I really enjoyed the book and performance, including Sean's narration. Ann's character's are always so well drawn and believable. The individual desires and motives so well described and the irony of the plot; that Anderson, who insigates the investigation's own son is the murderer. I will definitely listen to the other books in this series

Very good read.

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You,d have to be bird watcher to really enjoy this book. I found the progenitor unsympathetic.

Not the best Ann Cleeves..

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I love all Ann Cleeves books, and I did enjoy this. I just found there were a fair few places where was bored.

Excellent Narration

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Did not enjoy the story that I had listened to. Voice of reader very monotonous. Can't say bird watching so seriously is one of the things I want to do or read about so won't be finishing this book. I much prefer vera stanhopfe books.

what do I THINK!

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I could not get into this story, Narrator was too monotone, story too slowly paced, setting too homogeneous, failed to finish.

Slow pace.

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