The Books

Birds are wonderful creatures. As a young girl, Christine remembers watching the hummingbirds sipping red, sticky liguid the feeders on the front deck. Broad-tailed hummingbirds, her father said, though occasionally there would be one that looked different. It wasn't until years later she learned that there are 18 species of hummingbirds, 4 of which are common migrants or summer residents of Colorado. It wasn't until years after that her husband taught her to stand very still with her hand outstretched under the feeder so the hummingbirds would perch on her finger and eat.

She wouldn't say she was fascinated with birds, they just became a part of her consciousness. Her father is an outdoorsman, and together they've spent years exploring the woods of Colorado, the rocky shore of Maine, the sandy California beaches and windswept shores of Cornwall, England. She has fished a Rocky Mountain stream and watched ozuels bob for food along the shore. She has hiked a Colorado meadow, and gaped as a red-tailed hawk caught his dinner among the wildflowers. She has sailed the Maine coast and chuckled at the antics of herring gulls diving for tidbits behind the lobster boat.

Heading to college, she studied journalism, determined to become an investigative journalist. Only she claims she wasn't brave enough, so instead tried her hand at a variety of jobs—PR, engineering, ice cream store manager, feature article writer, rock and ice climbing guide editor—until finally her love of writing drew her to try her hand writing fiction.

She loves the crime novel genre. She reads everything from traditional puzzle mysteries to thrillers, so in keeping with the adage "write what you love to read," she tried her hand at writing a mystery novel. Fourteen years and three completed unsold novels later, she hit on the Birdwatcher's Mystery series.

So, what about birds is of interest to anyone other than Christine or an avid birdwatcher?

Lots!

In her research for the series she has discovered most bird-related issues have:

global themes—conservation, preservation of the environment, humanitarianism, wildlife management—

themes driven by global issues—money, land, love, pride, power—

themes that resonate in all of us.

Those themes and those issues speak to our basic way of life. They are what binds humans with creatures the world over.

It was with that basic understanding that she set out to write an entertaining, sometimes funny/sometimes serious mystery series, populated with birdwathers ranging from the novice to the expert, and exploring themes pertaining to birds and humans alike.

Her first two books, A RANT OF RAVENS and DEATH OF A SONGBIRD, were named finalists for the Willa Literary Award, Best Paperback Original. Her first four novels were Denver Post local paperback bestsellers. DEATH SHOOTS A BIRDIE, the fifth in the series, will be hit the stands March 6th.

Be sure and order your copy today!