The Birds That Stay (A Russell and Leduc Mystery, #1) By Ann Lambert
3.5 stars
Definitely want to pick up The Dogs of Winter to see what happens to these characters. 224 I listened to this as an audiobook, but I think I would've enjoyed the read more possibly as a physical copy. It's more of a slow-paced, psychological, mystery that does more than you think which took me a little bit by surprise.
While I'm not trying to dissuade you from reading The Birds That Stay, there are really just some books that are read at certain times and I did not read this book at the right time. If you're looking for a more simplistic detective whodunit, this is not it. It's focused on characters' love and trust which makes it kind of difficult to put into one genre.
I had an okay time going through it, but I especially enjoyed the end. I just think I would've needed a little more plot substance in the middle to keep me engaged because sometimes I think it almost got too wrapped up in other plot lines (which is crazy because I usually love different lines).
Might give this one a second go when it's published so I can give a hard copy, so this is a pretty undecided review. Take caution before reading because this is definitely a book that wants to go in deep. 224 Sometimes it’s hard to know whether I like a book because of its qualities or because it covers delightfully familiar terrain. I really enjoyed reading Anne Lamber’s The Birds That Stay, and I know it’s largely because it takes place in contemporary Quebec — but I also found this to be one of those thoughtful mysteries that delves below the surface. An older woman is murdered north of Montreal in the Laurentians. As the story unfolds, it focuses on one of the neighbours Marie Russel, on Detective Romeo Leduc and on an apparent con artist operating in seniors’ homes in Montreal. The mystery isn’t that complicated. But I really liked the characters and the strong sense of time and place. Lambert uses the story as an opportunity to explore some of Quebec’s history and contemporary cultural complexity. I especially liked Marie and Romeo. Both in late middle age, their struggles with aging parents, adult children and loneliness felt realistic and three dimensional. I hope they surface in future books Lamber writes. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read an advance copy. 224 3 stars Thank you to NetGalley and Second Story Press for allowing me to read and review this ARC. Published February 19th 2019
I had high hopes for this book, but it just did not pull me in like I had hoped. It started out really well with a murder in the Laurentian Mountains of Quebec, just north of Montreal, pulling in the Chief Inspector of Homicide, Roméo Leduc and then engaging Marie Russell, next door neighbor to the victim.
However, as the book continued it felt, not especially disorganized, but jagged and choppy. Reading well at one point, then dragging at many others. It did not have a smooth continual narrative to it. It seemed as though it lost something about midway in - I felt a total disconnect. I just really never felt the draw to pick the book back up. When I did, it would read okay, for awhile, then I would lose all interest in it again.
This being the start of a series based in Canada, I had hoped for a good mystery set in a nice nature spot, with a recurring detective solving many cases. I still hope for that. Although I sadly don't believe that the series has gotten off to a very good start. 224 Without much fanfare, Canada has been producing some real top quality fiction lately. “The Birds That Stay” is a superbly well-crafted novel that brings to life the quiet mountain villages of the Laurentian Mountains outside of Montreal.
Each character is fleshed out in revealing memories, recalling often how things were so different growing up. It's a pleasure to read this and so enveloping even though, at least on the surface, it doesn't seem like there's a whole lot happening, but Detective Romeo Leduc suddenly finds a lot is going on in the woods and country streets and somehow it all relates back to the past. Every page of this was filled with good stuff and you gotta hope the author has more in the works.
Maybe the heart of this novel is the idea that people are complex collections of events that shape us all. This theme plays out in each of the characters from the aging handyman who sneaks off to take care of his clients’ homes to the central plot which shows how our pasts follow us like a puppy dog and haunt us to our graves. We learn so much about each character, where they grew up, how they interacted, about the guilt they carry around for things they did, didn’t do, wanted to do. 224
A chilling mystery set deep in the heart of the Laurentian Mountains of Quebec where the sins of the past come back to wreak devastating consequences on the present.
In a small village in the Laurentians north of Montreal, a reclusive older woman is found strangled and frozen outside her home. Roméo Leduc, the enigmatic Chief Inspector for Homicide, is one day away from his first vacation in years, and reluctantly answers the call on the case. Roméo suspects a local biker gang is involved in what appears to be a robbery gone awry—or was the old woman a victim of a violent hate crime?
Marie Russell, a 58-year old writer and divorced mother of two, lives next door to the victim. Marie becomes an inadvertent detective when her mother, suffering from dementia, offers a startling clue that links the woman's murder to a terrible incident that happened on Marie's suburban Montreal street in the 1970's. Together, Marie and Roméo discover that the murder goes even further back, to another crime during the darkest days in Hungary at the end of WWII. As they combine wits to find the killer, they are forced to face demons from their own pasts as they confront a cast of characters from the Quebec of yesterday and today; where no one and nothing is really as it seems. The Birds That Stay (A Russell and Leduc Mystery, #1)
The Birds That Stay by Ann Lambert is a very unique story! There are so many stories that seem unrelated at first.
The Birds That Stay is a truly original story. I was invested in this story from the beginning. Who would kill an eighty two year old woman? The woman has no known family or friends. So much is revealed during the investigation. There is so much mystery though out the book.
I listened to the audiobook and loved Ann Lambert’s narration. Since the narrator is the author, you can really tell how important the telling of this story is to her.
Thank you NetGalley and ECW Press Audio for The Birds That Stay.
Full review: https://justreadingjess.wordpress.com... 224 It’s hard to describe a book like The Birds That Stay. Though classified as a mystery, it’s so much more than a usual murder mystery or a police procedural.
Set In a small village in Quebec, Canada, a reclusive older woman is found strangled and frozen outside her home. Roméo Leduc, the chief Inspector suspects a local biker gang is involved in what appears to be a robbery gone awry.
Marie Russell, who lives next door to the victim becomes an inadvertent detective when she discovers a startling clue that links the woman's murder to a terrible incident in the past. Together, Marie and Roméo discover that the murder goes even further back, at the end of WWII. As they combine wits to find the killer, they are forced to face demons from their own pasts.
On the surface, The Birds That Stay is a murder mystery but it’s not a typical mystery. It’s a slow burn mystery that unfolds slowly through it’s many characters and their memories of the place and their backstories. Infact, the first half of the book has a lot of back stories & flashbacks, providing you with a glimpse of Canada, it’s culture from the 70s to today, Canada’s history post WWII and even a brief commentary on Canada’s society and the relations among the various communities residing in Quebec, which I found quite enjoyable. I wish I could understand all the French phrases & references throughout the story. If you are from Canada (especially Quebec) you will enjoy this story.
The story is told from multiple perspectives and unfolds slowly with few twists and turns. The first half is slow paced but the likeable characters, their interesting backstories and the mystery will keep you hooked. If you are remain patient, you will rewarded in the end. If you love reading a fast paced thriller, you may find this book a bit slow. But if you enjoy a cosy and atmospheric thriller, you will surely enjoy this book.
Many thanks to Orca Book Publishers, the author Ann Lambert and Edelweiss for the ARC.
224 This book drew me in from the beginning. Each character, no matter how minor, felt real and easy to imagine. And I immediately bonded with Marie, mourning the recent loss of her lab and dealing with a parent with dementia. She gets drawn into the investigation of the death of a neighbor, a reclusive woman, due to a link dating back to her childhood.
Lambert does a great job of describing time and place. There’s a lot of memories here. Marie and I are of a similar age, so her memories were very similar to mine.
We also hear from Romeo Leduc, the detective investigating the death. He also has family issues and past secrets. In fact, this book is more character study than mystery. That said, the death investigation was also very realistic. And the historic backstory was interesting and revealed facts I had never heard before.
This is identified as the first in a series. I’m not sure how that will work, but I would definitely read a second in the series.
Ann Lambert narrates her own book and does a great job, managing all the different accents beautifully.
My thanks to netgalley and ECW Audio for an advance copy of this audiobook. 224
Chief Inspector for Homicide, Romeo Leduc, is called to investigate when an elderly woman is found strangled and frozen in her yard.
Leduc s scheduled to start his vacation the next day, so he's reluctant to take on a new case .. but he reluctantly does his job. There have been a series of robberies, maybe this s a robbery gone bad. Or it could be a violent hate crime.
Mary Russell lives next door to the victim and her Alzheimer-suffering mother unintentionally says something out of the blue .. something that might link to the death of her neighbor.
Marie and Romeo wind up working in tandem when they discover that the murder may have links even further back ... to the end of WW2.
This debut novel follows them from today to yesterday to yesteryear causing each of them to face their own pasts. There are deeply hidden secrets and who can they trust when no one is who they seem to be?
Although slow paced, this is a nice mystery with likeable characters. My one complaint is that french words / phrases are sprinkled throughout the story and having to stop and look them up on the computer took away the continuity of the story for me.
Many thanks to the author / Second Story Press / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
224 3.5 stars.
After listening to the terrific audiobook, 'The Dogs of Winter'(book 2 in the series), I immediately bought the Kindle version of this previous book, 'The Birds That Stay'. I prefer print to audio, but I truly missed author Ann Lambert's enthralling narration. I was disappointed in this book compared to The Dogs of Winter. The author is a wonderfully descriptive, immersive writer, but I found this character-driven novel slow-paced and the mystery very involved.
Detective Romeo Leduc becomes interested in the case of an elderly woman found murdered. She was an 82-year-old recluse who lived alone in a cottage in the Laurentians north of Montreal. There were rumours that she had a large sum of money hidden in her home, and it was believed she was Jewish.
First impressions were that she was the victim of an attempted robbery or a hate crime by local bikers displaying Nazi insignia and tattoos. Romeo questions a want-to-be Hells Angel and acquaintance but learns little. Subsequently, this man is badly beaten and hospitalized.
Marie is busy moving her mother into a nursing home. Her mother has Alzheimer's. Marie has a cottage near the murdered woman. In her absence, her home is broken into by unknown intruders. She meets Romeo Leduc when he investigates. Marie's mother reveals to her important information about the elderly lady who was murdered. When questioned later about what she revealed, her mother has completely forgotten the conversation. This leaves Marie wondering if this statement was true or the result of her mother's dementia.
The case is a very complex one and a mystery based on history. In the present, a man described as a charming Paul Newman lookalike is preying on people in nursing homes. He has become wealthy by taking control of their finances and operating by means just short of fraud. The plot moves backwards to a mysterious death in the 1970s and then to the mid-1950s when many Hungarian refugees were settled in Canada. Interesting information was revealed about a policy that permitted former Nazis to live in Canada during the Cold War. The Holocaust is mentioned in this tangled puzzle.
Romeo Leduc and Marie have clues to partly tie the various threads together. The case is mainly solved when old letters that are discovered rather than by police procedure.
The background is atmospheric and the characters come alive on the page. However, I found there was too much emphasis on the characters' backstories that focused on their past, personal problems, activities and family stress. This would have worked better spread out through a number of books. This slowed down the plot and the solution to the mystery. Also, some chapters began without mentioning the name of the character and it took a while for me to detect their identity.
Based on the excellent writing and how compelling I found the next book, I will definitely read the 3rd book in the series. 224
