Bird Brained

Rachel Porter #3

by Jessica Speart

When U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agent Rachel Porter investigates the compound of an alleged smuggler of exotic birds, she discovers her quarry dead and his illegal birds missing, and Rachel finds herself involved with everyone from a seedy snake dealer to exiled anti-Castro terrorists as she searches for a killer. Original.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Cozy Mystery

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 1999

Reviews

[Diana Brockelbank · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book took forever to read. Characters were boring for the most part. Rachel has no clue how to gather evidence and is always going into dangerous situations without backup. This book was not my cup of tea, but I was bound to finish it.

[Teri Heyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was elated to discover all of the Rachel Porter series available via Kindle Unlimited. So now I'm reading my way through this fast paced, entertaining series. Bird Brained has a colorful & memorable cast of characters you won't want to miss. Yes, this series is addictive, so you'll want to read them all.

[Dixie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this series...each one is about a different critter and Rachel is the wildlife agent who keeps them safe...or tries to.

[Bill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked this out of the used book store based on the premise of a fish and wildlife agent doing some detective work. About 20 pages in, I was pretty sure I'd read another one of her mysteries, and recalled it being ok. This one followed similar pattern, however, I felt like I was left at the altar with the ending. The details of the apprehension of the last person to kill somebody were not mentioned at all. XX killed YY. End of chapter. On to the epilogue and details of how many years in prison XX gets.

What?

Probably will keep me from reading any more of her stuff. It was like she hit her page limit or deadline, and said "meh...that's good enough".

[Tony Latham · Rating 2 out of 5]

Speart is great at character development. Unfortunately I had two (or was it more?) significant problems with the book. First of all her main character, a USFWS Special Agent, doesn't have a clue about search and seizure law. She's constantly obtaining her evidence illegally, and not realizing the significance of her efforts. Second, the character manages to wash off a couple of death struggles with hot showers. Both issues were just too hard for me to swallow. If you like Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer books, you might like these stories. Not my cup of tea.

[Emily Kestrel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rachel Porter, an agent with the Fish and Wildlife department, uncovers a parrot smuggling ring and entire cast of wackadoodles as she tries to keep her career from dying in the pit of environmental degradation known as southern Florida (especially Miami; boy did this book make me crave some good Cuban food!) Her characters are over-the-top but incredibly vivid (I think I threw up in my mouth a bit whenever a certain sleazeball named Willy Weed offered to show her his "cockatoo"), and the writing was fresh and snappy. I can't wait to read more in this series--hopefully they are all this fun.

[Janice · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the third in this series, and it is just okay. I would probably say my score is 2 and 1/2 stars. The stories are sometimes a little unbelievable, and the character is not always likeable. On the other hand, I do like some of the "supporting" characters, and I like the wildlife detail that is included in these books, as the main character is a federal Fish and Wildlife Agent. I will probably read more of the series.

[Darinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third book in the Rachel Porter series by Jessica Speart. Rachel is a fish and wildlife agent who often gets caught up in her investigations of endangered species. The third book finds Rachel working in Miami on a case involving exotic birds. The bird smuggler winds up dead, and Rachel investigates the exotic birds and looks for the killer. A light and fun read.

[bex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would enjoy reading more of this series.