Review: A Cast of Falcons: A Birder Murder Mystery

A Cast of Falcons: A Birder Murder Mystery by Steve Burrows
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A scientist, Philip Wayland, has been murdered in a particularly gruesome manner on a public path through a private research facility owned by a wealthy Emirate prince. Wayland was a former employee at the research facility but left it to pursue similar and competitive research at the local university. Is there a connection? Dominic Jejeune's fugitive brother Damian observes a man falling to his death in northern Scotland and sends him an oblique message. Dominic agrees to hide his brother for a short time at his home, but is severely disturbed by the subterfuge. Is it interfering with his ability to do his job? And does Damian have anything to do with the smuggling of gyrfalcons or with the gyrfalcons owned by the prince? This is a rather convoluted plot, and I didn't find it as gripping as earlier books in the series. There are almost too many undercurrents in the relationships between Jejeune and his brother, his girlfriend, and his co-workers, and among his co-workers. However, I stuck with the book and was eventually satisfied.

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