The Murder Bird

by Joanna Hines

At the heart of every murder, there's a child crying...Kirsten Waller, the acclaimed and well-known poet, is found dead in the bath in her remote cottage in Cornwall. The police claim it is suicide, but her daughter Sam refuses to believe her mother would take her own life and sets out to prove it was murder. At the time of Kirsten's death, she was working on her new masterpiece - a poem called 'The Murder Bird'. Only a few people knew of its existence and what it was about. But now the poem is missing together with her journal. It is this poem, which holds the key to the mystery and what really happened in the final minutes of Kirsten's life, and Sam desperately needs to find it. She's convinced Kirsten's ex-husband, Raph Howes, knows more than he admits. He certainly knew about the poem. As Sam determines to uncover the secrets around her mother's violent death, and risks her own life to get to the truth, she discovers much more than she ever expected.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Thriller, Suspense

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Dale Harcombe · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Kirsten Waller, a famous poet, is found dead in her bath the verdict is suicide. But her daughter Sam refuses to accept that this is the case. Although they had an unorthodox mother/daughter relationship Sam feels she knew her mother well enough to know she would not commit suicide, especially when Sam was planning to visit and her mother was looking forward to that. The other fact is that her mother’s journal and the poem she was working on, called The Murder Bird, are both missing. This was the title poem of her new poetry collection. Sam is determined to find out the real story. Could it be that Kirsten was planning to expose a killer in her poem? Sam’s stepfather Raph is just as determined that Sam not expose the truth. Why? And could Sam’s own life be in danger as she gets closer to the truth? The other thread that goes along in this book is that of a woman accused of murdering her husband. Raph is the lawyer working on this case to try and get her off.
I found this a little confusing initially, trying to sort out relationships with people having two or three marriages or relationships and sorting out where everyone fitted. Once I got those relationships sorted I became interested in this quietly compelling novel. I did find the incident, concerning a thrush and a lizard, which inspired the poem hard to read. I kept thinking of a thrush as a musical little bird but that is not the way it is portrayed and the bird on the cover to me looks more like a crow.
This was my first book by this author and though I found it interesting the pace at times did seem uneven. I liked Sam’s determination to get at the truth. She is prickly like a cactus but I rather liked her. Not all the characters are likable. Some are odd in their behaviour. A few red herrings are thrown up as to the identity of the killer. I had my thoughts early on and was proved right. The plot was clever but seemed to lose its way a bit with extraneous material at times. Sometimes just a bit much going on. However it did keep me reading. And I might be interested to try another by this author.

[Clarisa Rucabado Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good noir with a quirky storyline dealing with a similar situation across time and space in a rather interesting and satisfying manner. A poet, Kirsten Waller, has died electrocuted in her bath - accident, suicide, murder? Her daughter Sam is adamant, despite the coroner's, and Ralph, her mother's stranged barrister husband's opinion that this is no suicide but murder; yet, how to prove it? The gallery of characters is interesting; the motives behind the action, compelling. The narration explores deftly relationships in contemporary complex families, repercussions of past actions, warped loyalties... The setting, urban London, rural Cornwall, and Berkshire is vivid, and although there are some elements which strain verisimilitude, the whole provides a satisfying read with enough elements of suspense and surprise, and even a poem or two which is relevant to the story. There is also humour!

[Lizzie Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

There seemed no reason why Kirsten Waller, a famous poet, should have ended her own life, but that is the verdict of the Cornish Coroner. Kirsten had been living alone in a cottage in Cornwall and was found dead in her bath by Davy her first husband. But her daughter Sam refuses to accept the verdict particularly as she knew that her mother was currently working on a poem - The Murder Bird, which strangely cannot be found. Sam is convinced that her mother’s papers will yield an explanation for her death, but her mother’s journal is also missing. Convinced that her stepfather Ralph has the papers, Sam effects an unorthodox method of obtaining them.

Ralph Howes a highly successful barrister, is currently preparing the defence for Grace Hobden the mother of three children who calmly stabbed her husband to death while he was sleeping. The complex structure of a defence for Grace Hobden is cleverly constructed, and forms a background to the story, as Sam determines to prove that her mother was murdered and who by.

A compelling psychological book, that will have you gripped, as the family secrets are slowly and skilfully revealed as Sam searches for the truth of her mother’s death.
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Reviewer: Lizzie Hayes

[Rachel Wigg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book and the story kept me interested right to the end. There was a twist but a slightly too obvious one as there were very few suspects. The characters were well written and I enjoy books where I like most of the people I'm reading about.

[Maria-E. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eine bekannte Autorin wird tot in einem Ferienhaus aufgefunden. Die anberaumte Untersuchung stuft den Tod als Selbstmord ein. Die Tochter ist überzeugt, dass das nicht stimmt. Sie gibt nicht auf, bis die Wahrheit ans Licht kommt.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

THE MURDER BIRD is the story of a young woman who refuses to believe that her mother's death was a suicide. Sam is the young girl, her mother, Kirsten Waller is a famous poet who was working on a major new poem when she is found electrocuted in her bath in a remote Cornish cottage. Sam refusal is strengthened by Kirsten's estranged third husband, Raph Howes, being one of the first on the scene at the cottage and Kirsten's current poem "The Murder Bird" and her journal are missing.

Sam is stranded somewhere between two families - her own father Davy Boswin and his new wife Linda now have children of their own and Linda and Sam have a rocky relationship. Raph now lives with the voluptuous Lola, who also does not want Sam around. Sam is welcomed by Raph's brother-in-law Johnny, who is married to Miriam Howes, and Raph's mother Diana is also part of the complicated family scene. Sam is increasingly convinced that Raph has Kirsten's journal and he is hiding it for a reason, but a first attempt to get the journal nearly results in disaster as she combats vertigo and scales creepers to gain access to the upstairs of Raph's locked up house. A chance encounter with Raph's Barrister pupil Mick Brady provides her with her final chance that she has to get hold of the journal.

THE MURDER BIRD is a psychological thriller woven around this convoluted family and, co-incidentally the case of a woman accused of murdering her husband that Raph and Mick are working on. It is certainly a fast paced thriller, but there are also an enormous number of different threads and complications in everybody's lives. The whole of the Howe family have axes to grind, pasts to hide and dire circumstances that have happened to each and every one of them. Sam herself is prickly, stand-offish and obsessed, both with finding the truth about her mother's death and with her music - Sam is a talented cellist.

To be frank, most of these people are very hard to warm to - Lola and Mick are possibly the only characters in this entire book who are not guilty / uptight / angst ridden or just plain moody. There's a lot of complication to each person's back story (other than Lola and Mick) and things get dangerously close to being a little tedious as you wade through this field of misery and perfidy.

There's also a horrible sinking feeling when Mick is introduced - he finds Sam attractive, but too complicated - he likes his friends to be fun and light-hearted but somehow, against his better instincts, he finds himself attracted to Sam. For a while it's starting to feel horribly like we're heading for one of those happy go lucky hero saves the day for the tortured, beautiful but sad girl type endings. Luckily that's not quite what happens, but there's still a strong streak of romantic intrigue towards the end.

Ultimately I think the biggest problem with THE MURDER BIRD is that Sam's not necessarily an instantly sympathetic character - or at least she didn't trigger that response for this reader. Add that to the frenetic backgrounds for all the characters, the sub-plot of the domestic murder which just seemed to be there to serve as a filler to occupy Mick when he wasn't saving the day, and there was a real sense of disconnection from everybody. It's saving grace is definitely characters like Lola and the pace of the story.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE MURDER BIRD gets better as it goes along. I picked this one up because one of the main characters is a cellist, and I love music. While this wasn't a book that made me feel the music as some do, it had an interesting storyline: a mother presumably commits suicide, and her daughter is convinced she was murdered, though no one else does. It took a while to get into this one, perhaps because of the changing viewpoints (side note: maybe it was the advance e-copy I received, but there wasn't any division between POVs, and quite often I found myself having to go back and reread a section once I realized the POV had shifted), but the mystery is gradually unraveled to most folks' satisfaction. There are some brilliant pieces of prose in this, and near the end the twists keep coming. It wasn't quite as thrilling as some mysteries, though there are certainly action sequences, and I didn't guess the ending, which is always good for a mystery. I have another book by this author in the pipeline, so I hope it's good too.

I received this as a digital ARC via Netgalley and the publisher.

[Tariq · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot of the story seems a little weak and didnt come upto the expectation created by saying "a psychological thriller". For the starting few pages it didnt seem like a book that could not be put down before getting to the last. Though the literary skills shown by the author are commendable at many places and I liked the language used.
The story seems to virtually end with the culprit being identified even when an odd twenty five pages are left and you might be tempted to stop reading after that because in the next few pages nothing seems to happen save for the end where again there is a twist but by then the enthusiasm to read just somehow drops down because one feels the twist is added just for the sake of adding it as the author felt the story ended up very predictably and needed some more verve to build up. But still its a readable novel for a light untaxing read.

[Jennifer (JC-S) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kirsten Waller, a famous poet, is found dead in her bath in a lonely Cornish cottage. The verdict is suicide.
Ms Waller’s daughter, Sam refuses to accept this. Is she right? Kirsten’s journal is missing as is the poem she was working on – The Murder Bird – just before she died. This novel combines Sam’s search for truth with aspects of the lives of others who are also (however inadvertently) caught up in the circle around Kirsten, Sam, and her mother’s former partner Raph. Sorting red herrings from facts, interpreting some of the psychological mind games and finding out what really happened and why, makes this an enjoyable novel. A great combination of crime and mystery.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Murder Bird is a tale of artistry, revenge and and love. The characters are built well around a very satisfactory plot. I enjoyed getting to know each of the characters. I could see all of the main characters in my mind. I enjoy books where the author to take me along on the journey and I certainly got that from Ms. Hines. The story wove quietly through until the end. This is a very good mystery and I highly recommend it to mystery fans - particularly English mysteries. I look forward to reading more by this author.

Many thanks to Net Galley for the privilege of reading this book and providing an honest review.

[Naomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Compared to the other story, Improvising Carla, which I read for review at the same time as this one, this book failed on numerous levels. First, I felt that the story either bumped around or because it was told in various periods of time, it wasn't separated out clear enough. Normally books give some type of heading to identify changes in settings. Second, the characters and storyline were bland given the potential. I would put this more at a 2.5 Stars out of 5.

I received this book from Open Road Integrated Media in exchange for an honest review.

[Paula Brandon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did I miss something? Was this supposed to make sense? Who on Earth writes a poem about a suspected real-life murder instead of going to the police? I don't know what sort of poetry is highly popular today, but I found it a bit hard to swallow that someone might read this poem and go "Hey! This sounds a lot like that murder that was never reported that happened to a family nobody has heard of or really cares about!" At least not to the degree that the real murderer would have to hunt down and kill someone over said silly poem, anyway.

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked that the main character, although she is dead, was a poetess and that the title of this book was the title of her poem. The storyline itself was good and my two favorite characters were Sam and Johnny. At times the conversations were a little stunted and the mystery a little convoluted, but on the whole I was entertained and I see a good future for this writer as she develops greater skills in her craft. Believe this is an author to watch.

[Deb Novack · Rating 4 out of 5]

The characters are centered around a decent plot. I liked getting to know the people of the book and was taken on a journey through the reasons Sam does not believe her mother Kristen a well known poet, killed herself.
I would recommend this to people who love British mysteries. This is my first read written by Miss Hines, she is now on my new authors list.
*** I received this book from the publisher for an honest review****

[Sammie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very easy to read, not at all taxing. I felt the plot was a little feeble - it would have benifited from a little more focus. But the characters were interesting and likeable, and the book was overall entertaining and worth reading.

[Hope · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two out of five stars looks so harsh but it says two stars means 'it was okay'.
And that's exactly right. It was okay. Nothing too exciting in my opinion, but a good read if you like crime/murder books.

[Heather Fineisen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Predictable and a bit messy. I liked the idea of the plot, famous poet dies leaving journal and final poetry collection for cello playing daughter to sleuth out, but there were just too many characters and not enough flow.

[Jana Elston · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this one hard to get into. The beginning was confusing with the stories jumping across timelines.