Ruffled Feathers

Mysteries of Cobble Hill Farm #20

by Roseanna M. White, Guideposts

Ruffled Feathers is book twenty in the Mysteries of Cobble Hill Farm fiction series.

When a champion peregrine falcon is brought into Dr. Harriet Bailey-Knight's clinic for a common issue, Harriet gets to brush up on her avian care skills. She also finagles an invitation to a falconry demonstration that Gryphon and his owner, Georgina, are staging the following day, at which some wealthy observers will be present. Georgina's fledgling aviary is in need of a few new patrons after a business partnership gone sour, so she has high hopes for the day.

However, during the show, Gryphon refuses to return when Georgina calls. His damaged transponder is found a mile away, and they all fear the worst. Has the prize-winning peregrine been stolen for his value on the black market? Harriet dives into the mystery, but it will take all her skills to bring Gryphon home before it's too late.

Genres: Mystery

Paperback

Published June 16, 2026

About the author

Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. Having successfully launched two homeschool grads into the unsuspecting world, she now spends her time writing fiction, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary. She and her family make their home in the beautiful mountains of West Virginia. You can learn more about her and her stories at www.RoseannaMWhite.com.
see also Roseanna White

Reviews

[Lindsey (Books for Christian Girls) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, personally ⭐️ Christian Fiction - Cozy Mystery

About this book:

“When a champion peregrine falcon is brought into Dr. Harriet Bailey-Knight's clinic for a common issue, Harriet gets to brush up on her avian care skills. She also finagles an invitation to a falconry demonstration that Gryphon and his owner, Georgina, are staging the following day, at which some wealthy observers will be present. Georgina's fledgling aviary is in need of a few new patrons after a business partnership gone sour, so she has high hopes for the day.
However, during the show, Gryphon refuses to return when Georgina calls. His damaged transponder is found a mile away, and they all fear the worst. Has the prize-winning peregrine been stolen for his value on the black market? Harriet dives into the mystery, but it will take all her skills to bring Gryphon home before it's too late.”


Series: Book #20 in the “Mysteries of Cobble Hill Farm” series. Click on the numbers to be taken to the prior books’ reviews: Book #1, Book #2, Book #3, Book #4, Book #5, Book #6, Book #7, Book #8, Book #9, Book #10, Book #11, Book #12, Book #13, Book #14, Book #15, Book #16, Book #17, Book #18, and Book #19!


Spiritual Content- Isaiah 40:31 at the beginning; A Scripture is mention & thought over; Prayers & thanking and praising God; Church going; A few talks about God; ’H’s are capital when referring to God; Mentions of God, His creation, & Heaven; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of churches, church going, a pastor, sermons, & services; A few mentions of sins; A couple mentions of Christians; A couple mentions of being blessed; A mention of a cross in a church;
*Note: Harriet teasingly calls a dessert an “ambrosia” (food of the gods); A mention of luck; A mention of fairies.


Negative Content- Minor cussing including: an ‘idiot’, two ‘blimey’s, and four ‘stupid’; Some eye rolling; All about & many mentions of a missing or stolen bird, poachers, black markets, thieves, & stealing; Mentions of break-ins, burglaries/robberies, a woman being badly attacked during one, trauma from it, vandalism, & stolen items; Mentions of a mother emotionally manipulating her adult son; Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of deaths of animals (birds), injured or sick animals, & Harriet’s veterinary clinic treatments (including bird flu, lead poisoning, animals in pain, collecting blood, vaccinations, and euthanasia being mentioned; barely-above-not-detailed to semi-detailed); Mentions of hunting (by birds of prey towards other birds); Mentions of poop/guano; A few mentions of deaths & cancer; A few mentions of students cheating in school & being expelled; A few mentions of insurance fraud; A couple mentions of gossip; A mention of crooked cops; A mention of embezzlement;
*Note: Mentions of a car brand; A few mentions of someone seeing a psychologist or therapist after a trauma & being prescribed something to help; A couple mentions of a book and movie (‘The Maltese Falcon’ by Dashiell Hammett and the film of it starring Humphrey Bogart);


Sexual Content- a forehead kiss, a not-detailed kiss, and a barely-above-not-detailed kiss; Some touches, snuggling (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of boyfriends/girlfriends, dating, broken hearts, & exes; A couple mentions of hand holding; A mention of kisses & kissing; A mention of flirting;
*Note: Many mentions of birds mating, breeding, forcing matches, artificial methods, studs, & their hormones; A mention of a woman watching her figure (by watching what she eats).

-Harriet Bailey-Knight
P.O.V. of Harriet
236 pages

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Pre Teens- One Star
New Teens- Two Stars
Early High School Teens- Three Stars
Older High School Teens- Four Stars
My personal Rating- Three Stars (and a half)

I’ve become a bit of a bird watcher in recent months—down to having two bird feeders with a charcuterie board-like setup of seed options—so I found the parts about falcons and other birds of prey interesting. I still definitely like my cute Northern Cardinals and Tufted Titmouses more, but it was an interesting mystery that had me hoping for the best for the missing falcon. It was particularly nice that the full focus on this book was on the mystery of the animal featured, not two different mysteries or problems that Harriet has to figure out (with only one of them being about an animal) like most of the books in this series.

As someone who has read all the prior 19 books, I have to say: I was concerned when I saw that there would be two new authors being added in to a nearly complete series. Mainly because I was a bit worried that Harriet and other characters wouldn’t feel the same as the majority of the prior books. However, the author did well in this book with the characters and giving information without info-dumping about falcons, so it was an interesting mystery.


Link to review:
https://booksforchristiangirls.blogsp...



*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

[Bonnie Fakhri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun, contemporary, cozy mystery, with Brit Box and All Creatures Great and Small vibes. I learned a lot about falcons in this well researched book. I enjoyed the characters and found faith themes well woven. This book is part of a long Guidepost series but I haven't read any of the previous books and found it functioned fine as a stand-alone. It was great!

[Sherrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was actually a really interesting and different book for me. Some good characters and a good plot. I really enjoyed reading about the vet, Harriet, and her husband, Will and how Harriet has been called on to treat a Falcon. She generally has taken other birds but not this type. Georgina who is the Falcon owner ask Harriet if she would like to see a demo and so Harriet and her husband come to the Fair where Georgia shows off her falcon, Gryphon and unfortunately he does not return. So goes the hunt to find out what happened to the bird and Georgia is hoping for his return.

[Margaret Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read a couple of the earlier books in this series, and although I enjoyed the animals, the mysteries were such that I decided not to read more for awhile. However, I know this author is a good one, so was eager to read her book. It is very well done - the mystery is not far-fetched, she has done extensive research on dealing with falcons, the characters act pretty much like normal people, and it was a very enjoyable read.

[Flautje · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this cozy read. But that doesn't make it a simple story. You can tell the author has done a lot of research. I loved the characters. Loved the way I was starting to doubt everybody. I could see the end coming just a little bit but was still surprised in enough ways. The end could have been a bit longer I think. Just a little bit. Not for the story, but because I loved the characters so. But is was absolutely enjoyable!

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the best for me. I learned so much about falcons and others. An exciting wrap up too!