A Bird in the Hand (George & Molly Palmer-Jones Book 1)

I have read some of Ann Cleeves later mysteries and she impressed me as a skilled, insightful writer. This bird 🐦 mystery is one of her early novels and lacks much of the skillful techniques which characterize her later novels. The prose is stilted and boring. I did enjoy the information about the birds and the enthusiasm of the twitchers. The mystery itself seemed contrived. I guess 3 stars is generous, but, I really did enjoy the parts concerning the birds. Not especially recommended.

I'm a fairly new reader of Ann Cleeves books (all the Shetland series and one of the Vera Stanhope series), I thought I'd give her first book a try. A book about bird watching wouldn't ordinarily catch my attention and as one of the reviewers pointed out, it is a little plodding and certainly full of a lot of details. However, I consider none of that negative as it was her first book and many new writers feel the need to "explain" it all. I just went with it and read the whole book. It turned out far more interesting and intriguing than I first thought and you can see how Cleeves as evolved over the years. It has an interesting storyline and thankfully describes what "twitchers" do when out and about looking at birds. Felt the details were important as red herrings and get you to really think about who the story would play out. Once you hit your stride with this book, it's really a good read and I'm impressed by the talent that you see, even with this first book.

I just bought the ebook, & when it was downloaded, it had the wrong cover on it. I am returning the book. I don't appreciate it when publisher's can't be bothered enough to take the time to make sure that the ebook's metadata is accurately set so that it functions as it should once purchased & downloaded! Call me picky (I'm a cataloging librarian), but I want what I buy to work as it should!!! This kind of sloppy metadata work is what gives ebooks a bad name!!! This happens more than it should, & I'm tired of it!

I love Ann Cleeves, and have read all of the Shetland and Vera books and like them very much. This one however is nothing like those. She obviously honed her craft after writing this, as it is cumbersome with characters, difficult to keep track of, very repetitive, and poorly written, and not much of a mystery. The "detectives are uninteresting, and very superficially drawn. I am a birder and that part of it I enjoyed, but this not worth reading.

This is my first Palmer-Jones mystery and I must say it was quite good. Ann Cleeves should work for the Ministry of Tourism, she makes me want to visit these places around the UK and in this book, the Scilly Isles seem to be a great place to vacation or even to live. The story was good and I didn't get it until around the end who the murderer would be - it's got to be those silent types! Oh, and the twitchers, what a cultural phenom they must be.

I always enjoy Ann Cleves Shetland novels. She is consistent in giving her readers interesting characters. She also seems to bring new dimensions to Jimmy Perez, her wonderful inspector in these stories.

You'll learn more than you ever wanted to know about Twitchers (Birders) if you take this one on. After being introduced to Ann Cleeves series featuring Inspector Perez in the Shetland Islands, I was enthusiastic to commence another series and the ones about George and Molly Palmer-Jones seemed to fit the bill. The attractively described personages in the Perez series do not exist in this one. I had to force myself to finish it. The characters are too immature for their ages, mostly not people you'd ever want to know, and their total fixation on birding at all costs defies belief.

This is a good old fashioned murder mystery of the British variety.It is interesting to me that authors of British or British-colonial origins write very well. They respect the power and nuances of words and usually make well-crafted literature--even if the work is primarily for entertainment rather than "serious literature"This story has enough twists and secrets to be satisfying for readers who enjoy this genre--those who enjoy the work of P.D.James, Elizabeth George, Margery Allingham etc. A good read.And readers will learn interesting facts not to mention the specialized vocab. of the birder" community.

Whilst the plot kept me interested I can say categorically I will not be reading any more of this series of books. I only discovered when I got to the very end that this book was written in 1986 and it shows. Definitely not one of her better books. Apart from some clunky writing, I found the character of George objectionable and not likable. She describes him as irritated, angry, bored, formal, and abrupt, all of which is guaranteed to put anyone off. It did. I gave it a 2-star rating because the plot was of interest.

Being a keen birdwatcher and norfolk visitor I probably enjoyed the birdwatching aspects of the book more than the murder mystery. I enjoyed the insights into the twitching world and guessing at the barely disguised Norfolk locations Also the technical novelty of writing a detective story without any detectives! Not wildly 'thrilling' but a nice 99p kindle purchase. Don't know if I'd pay full price for any subsequent ones!

This was a very disappointing book for me. I realise it is one of Ann Cleeves' earlier books and suppose one can make allowances for that. None of the characters was really interesting, and the plot and dialogue not very credible. And there was SO much about bird watching, with lots of technical terms, that would appeal only to other enthusiasts. Not a patch on the Shetland and Vera books, which are great.

I am a great fan of Ann Cleeves and have enjoyed all the ‘Vera’ and ‘Shetland’ books but it was obvious that this was written in her early days as an author. In saying that, it was an easy read though I did get confused with the distances between the various sites of action and the amount of time it took to reach the various destinations. The story is basically set in north Norfolk which is quite a distance from anywhere! George and Molly, the central characters, were not strong enough in personality to carry them forward as permanent residents in the Ann Cleeves library but worth a read.

This is a gentle detective story which reminded me of those written 50 years ago. The actual plot is the least of it. A group of birders heading to see a rare bird spotted in Norfolk have a murderer in their midst and a retired home former civil servant and his retired social worker wife use their intelligence and people skills to work out what happened. It is easy to read and reflects both the intensity of some birders and the variety of human nature. I don't think it matters who did it - in fact the murderer is probably the least well constructed character - but it is well written and an easy read.