Before Vera Stanhope made Cleeves a household name, there were George and Molly Palmer-Jones. George is a retired Home Office investigator with a passion for birdwatching; Molly is sharper than anyone gives her credit for. Together, they have a quiet but persistent talent for finding themselves at the centre of other people's darkest secrets. These three early novels are charming, clever and impossible to put down.
A Bird in the Hand - A celebrated birdwatcher is found dead on the Norfolk coast and the twitching community proves far from peaceable.
Come Death and High Water - A storm, a fire and a murder strand George Palmer-Jones on a Devon island with a killer among the naturalists.
Murder in Paradise - A young woman falls to her death before witnesses on a remote island and nothing about it looks accidental.
Ian Rankin is always a good read but it is interesting to have one of his other series which shows a different style and for me the best read in the selection.
