An Obsession with Birds: A Bird in the Hand

A Bird in the Hand by Ann Cleeves

Pan Books

Pp. 214

The author of the books on which the series Vera and Shetland are based, Ann Cleeves wrote the first in this George and Molly Palmer-Jones series in 1986. The couple in question are retired, happy to travel the British Isles birdwatching, and solving the murders which invariably occur. George used to work at the Home Office (doing secret business), is good with details and has bouts of depression; Molly is a retired social worker who is good at listening and brings out the best in people. Naturally, they make a great couple. Both are restless with their current life and enjoy a new challenge.

A birdwatcher is found dead on a marsh with his head bashed in and his binoculars still around his neck. This is a great surprise to everyone in the small community because everyone loved him. Or did they? Of course, they didn’t, as this is an old-style mystery and secrets soon come to light complete with multiple suspects, red herrings, precise timings of the murder, poison pen letters, and suspicious alibis. At one point when discussing how the “smooth and cylindrical” murder object might be a telescope, they admit, “It had become something of a game.” After noting the sincere concern of a potential victim, however, George realises it is not so cosy. “Her fear had been wild and irrational. So was murder. He would not find his answers through reason and intellect. This was no crossword to be solved by a gentleman in an armchair. Murder was mad and unreasonable, and gentlemen had no part in it.”

The novel contains lots of interesting birdwatching information – who knew twitchers were such addicts or that they had great rivalries with ringers? Twitching is a way of life, which affects people in dramatic ways when a ‘rarity’ is discovered, and news of which sighting is shared among the community. The impulse nature and attraction of twitching is highlighted, and George considers how far one might take this addiction. “He had always considered his obsession for birds to be relatively harmless, but now his own experience showed that it could alter mood, sense, even personality, like a drug. Did it also have the power to make a person mad enough to commit murder? Twitching was a desire for possession and that was always dangerous.”

The novel offers an interesting approach to retirement, as Molly admits to an unexpected bereavement at giving up her job. “She had thought that she would enjoy a time of quiet, enjoy having the time to do things well. But she had missed work desperately. It was not just that she missed feeling useful, although that was important. It was that she missed meeting people who were different, unusual, unconventional.” Although she has no real interest in the birds, she studies the passions of the people that chase around the country from the Scilly Isles to Scotland.

These two make an interesting couple, and with a background of birdwatching to add colour to the murder scenes and motivations, this could be an engaging series to follow.