Bird Mystery

Five fun cozy mystery books with pet-sitter Polly Parrett.

Dresden is cursed. His chest houses a hive of bees that he can't stop from stinging people with psychosis-inducing venom. His face is a shifting montage of all the people who have died because of those stings. And he has been this way for centuries—since he was eighteen and magic flowed through his homeland, corrupting its people. He follows harbingers of death, so at least his curse only affects those about to die anyway. But when he arrives in a Midwest town marked for death, he encounters Essie, a seventeen-year-old girl who suffers from debilitating delusions and hallucinations.

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.

Hettie Way knew what a compass was, of course, but it was her long held opinion that if you needed a compass to find your path you deserved to be lost. The glass above the face was cracked and Hettie Way understood that this small round of metal and enamel marked with letters was a talisman for her daughter, an artefact, but she was uncertain whether it was for good or ill and there was a great deal at stake. Growing up at Pike Lake, Vanessa Way was never lost. A scientific internship at a research centre in the Arctic Circle seems like a great opportunity, but the compass begins to spin ...

In an untouched corner of Craynebrook, the lifeless body of a local farmer is found, his blood mingling with the mud of Blackbird Farm. For Detective Inspector Matthew Stannard, still nursing wounds from a brutal assault, this grisly scene marks the beginning of an investigation unlike any he’s worked on before.

She left the big city police force to start life over as a private investigator in a small mountain town, where things prove to be a little too quiet...until she lands in jail next to a drunk hippie with a missing son and ends up tied to a tree in the forest.

The clandestine Ground Division has a single mission. They exist for the sole purpose to take on tasks the United States government doesn’t want to be implicated in. They work in the shadow of the Central Intelligence Agency, but the men of the Ground Division are not CIA agents. Many of them come from the ranks of America’s greatest war fighters - soldiers, airmen, sailors, and Marines, but the men of the Ground Division are not military; they are ghosts. They are off the books of any official government roster.

Jack Terrington, the nation's most prolific serial killer, returns to the scene of his first murders, a small town he'd escaped only by dumb luck. Jack Terrington has an aptitude for getting away with murder; he’s been doing it for twenty years. He’s a drifter, leaving a trail of fear and death from coast to coast. And though he’s always avoided capture, he’s haunted by the memory of Liberty, Virginia—Jack had escaped capture only by dumb luck. And that’s always bothered him. Now, before he retires for good, he’s returning to the small town to settle the score. Meanwhile, ...

Sometimes, Rory Rutherford smells like candy. Usually, he smells like freshly baked bread, but such is the life of a baker. It was no accident Rory was in the park that day, but he couldn’t have foreseen what would transpire by the fountain.

What is the connection of "Fowl Relief" and an English golf-playing king? Does the nickname of Jimmy Douglas' great-great-grandfather have any significance? Tie these answers with the other clues and the mystery of the purple bird is solved, but not until Djuna, the brilliant young sleuth, and his pal Jimmy go through an ordeal that almost takes their lives. The boys tangle with an antique dealer and a tiger-skin diary - just to name a few of the events - in their struggle to solve the mystery.

It is 1878, and Dr. Poppy Stamford has reluctantly rekindled her relationship with Sherlock Holmes. Though it has been almost four years since they parted on uneasy terms and while he continues to suppress his feelings for her, they are still intrigued and inspired - and frustrated - by each other. When her beloved uncle is arrested in relation to a series of murders near the British Museum, Poppy and the burgeoning detective set out to find the evidence to set him free.

When a bird flu pandemic reaches the picturesque yet uncanny island Gotland, panic spreads among the inhabitants who are frantic for an elusive cure. As the community becomes more desperate, the hunt for scapegoats begins. Extremist and anti-immigrant groups gain ground while nurse Sandra Hägg makes a gruesome discovery at the health clinic where she works — a discovery that will cost her life. Soon Detective Inspector Maria Wern is handpicked to investigate the case.

A struggling songwriter and Lyft driver, Adam Zantz’s life changes when he accepts a ride request in Malibu and 1970s music icon Annie Linden enters his dented VW Jetta. Bonding during that initial ride, the two quickly go off app—over the next three years, Adam becomes her exclusive driver and Annie listens to his music, encouraging Adam even as he finds himself driving more often than songwriting. Then, Annie disappears, and her body washes up under a pier.

Florence Samuels was living the life shed always dreamed of: married to the love of her life and about to become a mother after years of trying. Everything was perfect. She never imagined that the love of her life would also be the one to destroy them forever. On the anniversary of losing both her husband and her unborn child, Florence returns to her once favorite place to pick up the broken pieces of her life and find some closure. But, what she doesn't expect is to see the man who saved her life on that fateful day.

When skilled assassin Jackson Cole meets with a news reporter, he’s thrust into the position of detective and guild enforcer all rolled into one. Finding a missing musician whose life is in grave danger becomes his top priority. The deeper Jackson digs into the investigation, the more peril he and his family faces. Suddenly, his guild’s bar and headquarters are the setting for a shootout, putting his own mother’s life in danger. When Jackson discovers that one of his friends was also shot by the same gunman, Jackson knows time is running out for the missing woman.

Hawaiian holiday turns mysterious when long-time friend leads narrator on a downhill slide into Rainbow Valley. The secret hidden there is revealed in this mini twisty-turner set in modern day Hawaii on the sleepy isle of Kauai. With a derelict parrot named Barfly on his shoulder, Sky says it’s never too late to fly. Note: In response to reader comments that the timeline was confusing, I re-wrote and re-published the story in April of 2017. I hope I have corrected that problem for my readers.

Blue birds were spreading the epidemic, but were they really?

ORIGINAL STORY, WRITTEN BY A HUMAN Something evil is going on out there... Detective Ange Watson always knew policing was a hard job. A dangerous job. But she never expected to take a bullet in the line of duty… And now it seems her superiors are willing to throw Ange under the bus to cover up their own mistakes. While she isn’t easily intimidated, everyone has their limits. But when a scared young Vietnamese woman seeks refuge in a country church, it sets in motion a chain of events that will push Ange’s ingenuity and determination to its limits. No human being deserves to be sold to...

London, 1894. Inspector Henry Cutter is in an unconvivial temper. Then the murders begin. The first to die is Sir Aneurin Considine, a decorated but long-retired civil servant, is found dead amongst his beloved orchid collection, killed by a wound inflicted with surgical precision. Soon, other victims suffer similar fates. More men in powerful positions; more murders that are gruesome but immaculately orchestrated. Hot on the tails of this invisible adversary are Inspector Cutter, along with his hapless but endlessly enthusiastic sidekick, Sergeant Gideon Bliss.

Emma Finch is stuck at her job writing throwaway articles for a birdwatching magazine. In fact, she’s starting to wonder if her editor even reads her work. But then, she gets an unexpected email: an invitation to interview a legendary folk singer known for writing one of the most beloved songs among birdwatchers. It’s not long before Emma travels to a small mountain town to get the interview of a lifetime. While the town of Sourwood appears quaint and cozy on the surface, it’s not long before things start to go amiss. First, Davy Pinesmith refuses to give Emma the interview he had ...