Book 34, 2021

Bickering Birds by Mildred Abbott

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I finished reading Bickering Birds last night. It's the third book in Mildred Abbott's "Cozy Corgi" mystery series, featuring Winnifred "Fred" Page and her taciturn corgi, Watson.

Fred's new bookshop, The Cozy Corgi, has opened to the public at last. Her BFF, Katie, has opened a new bakery on the upper level of the book store, and things are off to a great start. Katie even gets tabbed by the local birdwatching club to cater their next meeting. From there, Fred and Katie are talked into attending a moonlight snowshoeing expedition, in search of an elusive owl. Members of the club split up, but a terrified scream draws them back together where they discover one of their members has been murdered. Henry had a contentious relationship with everyone else in the club, it seems, accusing them of everything from cheating to obtain recorded bird calls to outright poaching.

Fred is content to let the police do their job...until her sorta-kinda boyfriend, Sargeant Branson Wexler, forbids her to get involved. That gets Fred's hackles up, and she launches her own investigation just to prove that she's capable. As Fred makes the rounds of neighboring shops to speak to other members of the club, she manages to ruffle more than a few feathers. Now she'll need to flush out a killer before the perpetrator flies the coop.

Fun and delightful story. I like Fred's feisty independence, and I was not sorry to see her relationship with Branson fizzle. Leo makes a better match, although I still maintain that Katie would be a perfect match for her. Hee! Characters are fully realized, from the main players to the role players, like Officer Susan Green, who seems to be Fred's nemesis. The plot moved at a good pace, and I had things figured out before Fred did.

Favorite lines:
♦ I'd be willing to bet Watson would forgive an intruder two minutes after murdering me if they had a big enough dog treat.
♦ Synapses stopped firing as I tried to figure out if it was better to make a purchase or throw myself out the front door.
♦ "I want a slumber party. I was thinking of having a Harry Potter movie marathon..."
Count me in!

Very good, four stars.