A Siege of Bitterns, by Steve Burrows (Dundurn)
Steve Burrows’ A Siege of Bitterns introduces Inspector Domenic Jejeune, a detective recently assigned to the village of Saltmarsh who is deeply ambivalent about his work. Yes, he’s something of a prodigy when it comes to solving murders and missing persons cases, but he’s also a cipher of a man—one who would prefer the rather isolated life of a field ornithologist to his own.
A Siege of Bitterns is the first in a promised series of “birder mysteries” featuring Jejeune, and I can’t wait for more.
Well, I suppose I will have to wait for more, but I don’t want to. I’d much rather there were already a dozen volumes in the series that I could pore through, watching his character develop, seeing his changing relationships with colleagues, listening to his frustrated, conflicting internal dialogues.
Whether or not bird-watching interests you (I grew up in a house of birders, but never became one myself), if you like high-quality police procedural mystery novels, you’ll be deeply satisfied with A Siege of Bitterns. Enjoy it now, then join me in waiting eagerly for the next volume.