Hoot to Kill

Robyn Devara Mysteries #1

by Karen Dudley

Most biologists believe the worst thing about field biology is watching everything else have sex except you. Robyn Devara is no exception. In the remote logging town of Marten Valley, Robyn knows she's not likely to win popularity contests, much less get any dates. After all, she's there to survey the old-growth forest for spotted owls, and, if she finds any of the endangered birds, it's going to mean big changes for the people of Marten Valley.

Genres: Mystery

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 16, 1998

About the author

My checkered past includes field biology, production art, photo research, palaeo-environmental studies, editing, archaeology and Classical Studies. Needless to say, I just couldn't seem to settle on one job and sometimes I thought there was something wrong with me--a sentiment echoed by my mum. Then, a number years ago, an epiphany! I finally realized that what I really wanted to do was . . . everything! And if you want to do everything, the best way to do it is to be a writer.

I wrote four environmental mysteries and a short stack of wildlife biology books for kids before I had another epiphany . . . I want to write fantasy! So I did. Food for the Gods is an historical fantasy novel set in ancient Athens. It's all about chefs and gods and food and murder and strange beasties and a huge amount of fun. Think Xena meets Iron Chef and you're starting to get the picture. I'm now working on the sequel, Kraken Bake.

I live in Winnipeg with my husband, daughter, and assorted authorial cats.

Reviews

[Emily Kestrel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in a logging town in British Columbia, this is a mystery novel in which biologist Robyn Devara stumbles across a corpse while searching for spotted owls. In the tradition of amateur sleuths everywhere, she decides that since she found the body, she owes it to the victim to find the killer too, and starts nosing around and asking questions. I'm giving the book an extra star for the environmental focus, but other than that, it wasn't that good. The writing was stilted, there were tons of cliches, and Robyn has an unforgivably too stupid to live moment at the ending. But I'll admit I'm harsh that way. It wasn't terrible, and I would be willing to try another title from this author.

[Wanda Pedersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

🎃🎃🎃🎃
First things first: this author is my friend. We volunteered together many years ago. However, if I didn't honestly enjoy her books I would read them surreptitiously and slink off without leaving a review. Here's the thing, I really do enjoy her writing.

I like Robyn Devara as a main character, her environmental awareness and her lack of luck in love. We also get a glimpse into her family dynamics, which have some troubles. I often struggle with humour in books, but I get Karen's sense of humour, possibly because I know her and can hear her voice in my head as I read. For example, Robyn has a cat named Guido, named after an unfaithful ex-boyfriend and subsequently neutered. She's not above some symbolic revenge!

By taking this mystery to a small B.C. town, Dudley is following the example of Dame Agatha Christie in using a small community as a setting. It's so much easier to write a good mystery in a small group of known quantities. She also sets up the character of Jaime Cardinal as the equivalent of Miss Marple, the villager who knows everyone and who can fill in the blanks for Robin and her coworker (and love interest) Kelt. (This interest in romance is in good gothic mystery/romance form.)

I've read this book before, back when it was first published (1998) and I remembered only bits and pieces, so it was once again a good read. I'm glad I bought all four books featuring Robyn. I'm going to enjoy this re-read cycle.



Cross posted at my blog:

https://wanda-thenextfifty.blogspot.c...

[Mardi D · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one. I did see evidence that this was a Canadian author, clearly a difference from American authors, since as a Canadian I recognized the language style and some of the words and phrases used. Took me some time to suspect the killer, did not figure it out until near the end. I will watch for more by this author.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in a small logging community in BC, I enjoyed the setting and the Canadian references in the book, and it was a great read! Good characters, some good humour, and a nicely twisted ending!

Our heroine Robyn has a cat named Guido, named after an unfaithful ex-boyfriend and subsequently neutered. Nice bit of symbolic revenge!

[Canlit4ever · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a light-hearted, fun, stereotypically Canadian crime novel. I was hoping for a bit more learning about birds, but there was some. Flows well, entirely readable, if a little trite.

[Kelly Allard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mystery isn't my normal genre, in fact I read this for a class. But I have to say, I was impressed by the voice of Dudley's Robyn Devara. An easy read, I plowed through it all on New Year's Day.
I would have rated it higher, but certain things were very obvious and the mystery itself was relatively easy to put together once the obvious culprit was introduced into the story. All in all, despite the very obvious "twist" the writing was very good and kept me from tossing the book aside after it all became clear far before the ending.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another 3.5 rating!

Heroine Robyn finds herself in the middle of a nasty fight between loggers and environmentalists determined to save the spotted owl. Robyn's job is to see if the sighting of a spotted owl is real and if there is a breeding colony, which puts her smack in the middle of the controversy.

I enjoyed the setting - the BC old growth forest - and Robyn's sense of humour. A fun read.

[Amy]

Recommended by gypsymom, because I like Nevada Barr mysteries. http://www.bookcrossing.com/forum/23/...

[Arlene Richards · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good mystery story, but it had an added feature for me because the heroine was a marine biologist that specialized in birds. I learned something about owls.

[Shirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good story with the emphases on the environment.

[Wayne Inkster · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good read. A Canadian mystery that could easily be a real life situation.