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  • A Bird in the Hand

  • Palmer-Jones, Book 1
  • By: Ann Cleeves
  • Narrated by: Sean Barrett
  • Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
  • 3.7 out of 5 stars (26 ratings)

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A Bird in the Hand cover art

A Bird in the Hand

By: Ann Cleeves
Narrated by: Sean Barrett
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Publisher's Summary

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.

©2015 Ulverscroft (P)2015 Ulverscroft

What listeners say about A Bird in the Hand

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A Bird in the hand

Loved it. I know I'm goimg to enjoy reading more of George & Molly's adventures.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

Disappointing…. Storyline was good and interesting to read about twitchers but painfully slow, dialogue not her usual…. Almost like she’d had to shorten it and ended up with mere bare bones of the story!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Ann Cleeves good story narrator not so much

narrator not great boring at times, storyline took a bit to get going but finished strongly.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable first instalment.

What an enjoyable insight into twitching this was. Sound mystery with a particularly strong ending. This won’t be my last Palmer-Jones book.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Reader was dull.

Quite a good story, but the monotone drone of the reader made the whole book an effort to finish.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Boring, dated, sexist

Ann Cleeves’ Shetland and Vera stories might be much loved, but that’s no excuse for republishing an earlier book published decades ago, and now very outdated, and then having it read in a pompous and patronising style. I only stuck with it to find out “who dunnit”.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Slow

A Bird In The Hand
This was painfully slow.
It gave a feeling of despair reading this novel

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