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NEST IN THE ASHES, A
by Christine Goff
Prime Crime, November 2002
212 pages
$5.99
ISBN: 0425184048


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

A NEST IN THE ASHES, the third book in the Birdwatcher Mystery Series, begins with the controlled burn of a national forest, which results in murder. Eric Linenger, a National Park Service ranger, opposes the burn but does not have the power to prevent it from occurring. The controlled burn spreads out of control and threatens nearby houses/ buildings. Eric rushes to help rescuers evacuate the area but two boys from the Youth Camp have disappeared. Eric searches for them but instead stumbles upon the burnt body of his boss Wayne Devlin. The official ruling is that Wayne started the fire, which destroyed surrounding property and died from fire related injuries. Eric does not believe this judgement and works with the local sheriff (as well as Wayne’s widow and Lark, Eric’s almost girlfriend) to find a murderer. As Eric pieces together the events, more murders occur and Eric worries about the safety of those surrounding him.

Christine Goff is a talented writer and adds more variety to the cozy genre. The inclusion of birds as the primary focus is inventive. The cozy genre is full of authors focusing on cooking, quilting and other hobbies but birdwatching is unusual in the genre. A NEST IN THE ASHES does not contain the stereotypical amateur detective. Eric is a ranger and is responsible for maintaining the peace. Also he gets drawn into mysteries but he usually works with Vic, the local sheriff, rather than strike out on his own. He rarely put himself into dangerous situations either intentaully or unintentually; he simply does his job.

Goff’s writing style gets stronger with each book she writes, but she still has areas that need improvement. The use of Norwegian in the text was fine but she needs to be more consistent with its use. The majority of the phrases she used appeared at the end of the book rather than the beginning. Also some of them seemed rather trite for the situation. It felt as though all of the phrases were included to remind the reader that Eric was a foreigner, because those phrases seemed to be the only thing that differentiated him from the boy next door. Eric is an interesting character and Goff has the opportunity and ability to development him into a more diverse character by through cultural elements or more personal things about him into the story line.

The conclusion of the book was unsatisfying. The characters were pretty well developed and interesting; therefore, it was entertaining to follow them throughout the actions of the book. Unfortunately, the ending of the book felt rushed and abrupt. When it came time to exposing the “villain”, I needed to stop and remember who the suspects were because their actions were not focused on until the very end of the book. Almost all of the actions that Eric took related more to his job than to solving Wayne’s murder.

A NEST IN THE ASHES is an enjoyable read in addition to being a valuable book to the cozy genre. Christine Goff is a talented author who continues to expand a genre as she improves her own writing ability simultaneously.

Reviewed by Sarah Dudley, October 2002

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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