Parrot Blues

Neil Hamel #6

by Judith Van Gieson

One of the Southwest's hottest suspense series continues with its most ambitious installment yet, as New Mexico lawyer turned sleuth Neil Hamel becomes immersed in the deceptively treacherous world of parrot smuggling.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Judith Van Gieson is the author of a children’s book, a collection of poetry and short stories, and thirteen mysteries. Her short stories have appeared in several mystery anthologies. In the first mystery series eight books, featuring female Albuquerque attorney/sleuth Neil Hamel, were published by HarperCollins. Neil’s work often involved environmental issues including endangered species and wildfires. Books in this series were published in England, Japan and Germany. It was optioned by CBS. The Lies That Bind was a finalist for the Shamus Award for best detective novel. The series won the Spirit of Magnifico Literary Award.

There were five books in the second series with heroine Claire Reynier published in paperback by Signet, in hardcover by University of New Mexico Press and in a large print edition by Thorndike. Claire works as an archivist and librarian at the Center for Southwest Research at UNM. This series involved rare artifacts and New Mexico history. The Stolen Blue was a finalist for the Reviewer’s Choice Award. The Shadow of Venus was a finalist for the Barry Award and won the Zia Award given by New Mexico Press Women for Best Work of Fiction by a New Mexico woman.

Series:
* Neil Hamel
* Claire Reynier

Reviews

[Elaine Nickolan]

3.5 stars-This installment of the Neil Hamel series was much better than the first one I read. In this book Neil is hired to find a rich mans wife and expensive Macaw. The bird seems to be more important than the soon to be ex-wife. Neil must track down the kidnapper(s) along with her younger lover/partner, the Kid, and the pace of this story stays pretty constant, which made this a decent read. This author obviously revolves these stories about different types of birds and educates the reader by supplying lots of information about the birds habits and traits which also makes the story interesting, at least for this reader. I have one more book with this main character that i will get to in time.

[Deena Santori]

I found it predictable. Still a quick, fun read.

[Vicki Holmsten]

I forgot how much I enjoy Van Gieson's writing. This is perfect for a quick summer mystery read, full of New Mexico scenery and culture. One of the Neil Hamel series.

[Joanne]

listened. Good mystery and fun info about new mexico

[Rebecca]

I love this author. She writes in a comfortable style that's easy to enjoy and relax with. The main character and her partner are consistent in every story.

[Emily Kestrel]

Average mystery set in New Mexico, involving parrot smuggling and an apparent kidnapping. The setting was well-done, but the story a bit slow, with too much discussion of technology for my tastes (and, since the books was written in the 1990s, obsolete technology at that), and the first 130 or so pages were already summarized in the blurb on the back of the book. Still, the main character was interesting and there were a few exciting scenes, and including parrots in any tale can't hurt.