Never Murder a Birder — Edie Claire

Eleventh in the USA-Today and Kindle Top-Ten bestselling Leigh Koslow Mystery Series!

Note to Criminals: Some witnesses are more trouble than others.

When Leigh's husband Warren gets offered a consulting gig in Corpus Christi, Texas, Leigh decides to migrate south for a rare week of fun and sun on the Gulf Coast. Warren may have to work, but for Leigh every day is a play day as she roams the beaches and parks of the sleepy, charismatic little town of Port Mesten, winter home to a few locals, scads of vacationing retirees, and a whole lot of birdlife. Now granted, it might seem odd that a body would wash up on the sand within hours of her arrival, considering that the peaceful birding and fishing mecca hasn't seen a murder in well over a decade. But Leigh is not involved �" she's simply having a good time getting to know her cousin Hap, who's putting her up at the historic hotel he manages, and his wife Bev, who is fattening her up with delectable home cooking. So what if a bunch of random people in town are staring at Leigh as if she looks familiar? The fact that these same people happen to be murder suspects is not her problem.

But when a dedicated birdwatcher is felled at dawn with his binoculars still around his neck, Bev and the other birders of Port Mesten decide to make it their problem. What crime did the unfortunate birder witness that cost him his life? And why does Leigh continue to be freakishly stalked from a distance? Is it a case of mistaken identity? Leigh would prefer to make beachcombing her first priority, but as the body count rises, she fears she will suffer for the sins of her mystery lookalike. While law enforcement does its thing, the birdwatchers quietly go about their own agenda, giving new meaning to the term “neighborhood watch.” And when a fateful twist occurs that threatens not only Leigh, but the future of the local wildlife population, a desperate killer finds that silencing this witness has brought on a peck of trouble…