Birds of Wonder is a magnificent genre-bending work of literature set in a small art and wine enriched town in upstate New York. One morning English literature teacher, Beatrice Ousterhout, is walking her dog along her neighbor's property. Her dog smells something and they discover the lifeless body of Amber Inglin, the talented teen girl and orphan who was cast to play The Duchess of Malfi in Beatrice's upcoming play. Quite shaken, Beatrice calls her daughter, Jes, who happens to be a detective and is named P.I. of the case. Jes is a tough, broken soul and spends her free time sleeping around to fill a void within her. The body was found near the mansion of Amber's boss and local vintner, Liam Walsh, one of the married men Jes had an affair with. Among the suspects are Liam, one of his workers, Amber's troubled foster siblings and a neighbor who was the last person seen giving Amber a ride home. Jes is determined to find the murderer but becomes side-tracked by certain bodily desires and her personal deep-seated beliefs.

The story consists of a handful of narrators and is incredibly character-driven but remains easily digestible. All of the well-developed character's flaws and dark thoughts are on full display which makes the majority of them unappealing and some, downright vile. It was interesting to see how the relationships and lives in the town are all woven together. From the beginning, Jes expresses a great amount of hostility towards her mother and treats her terribly. Towards the end of the novel, the reason Jes resents her mother is made clear. Beatrice's mental state seems to be deteriorating as she chooses ignorance and naivety. One of the suspects, Edward, is a disturbing middle-aged artist who tends to view women as objects. His character was revolting and pulled together the timely theme of women being treated disrespectfully, speaking to the #MeToo movement. Covering the span of a few days, the six absorbing narratives are strung together and examine how each person is affected by the death of this young woman.

As I read on, I realized the relationships between the characters were the main focus of the novel and the mystery aspect took the back burner. This fact does not make the story any less intriguing and I flew through the book. Robinson kept me compelled with the "whodunit" of Amber's murder as she introduced and developed each complex character. There are so many thought-provoking layers to this story. A fascinating dialogue of ornithology and art is intricately woven throughout. This novel is about broken spirits, the mistreatment of females across the world, family issues and relationships falling apart. Most importantly, it's about people coming to terms with who they really are. Without spoiling anything, I was relieved that the ending of the book was not picture-perfect but ended just how it was supposed to. If you are broken, only you can fix yourself. No one else can do that for you.

Robinson's prose was fresh and poetic. I look forward to reading more from her in the future! I highly recommend this novel for anyone who appreciates well-rendered characters and gorgeous writing. Thank you so much to Smith Publicity & Cynthia Robinson for my copy. All opinions are my own. ( )

When Beatrice goes for a all one morning, the last thing she expects to find is a body in a field. And not just any body, but that of a young girl she knows. Amber Inglin is the star in Beatrice's play The Duchess of Malfi. What follows is a complex, lyrical tale that is by turns sordid, and amusing.

Robinson's debut Birds of Wonder showcases the truth that everything is truly connected, that everyone touches one another through shared events, even if the connection is two, three, or more people removed. Told through six different viewpoints, we are guided through the events leading to Amber's demise.

I enjoyed the overall concept of this story, and the beautiful writing. Each character had their own quite distinctive personality, crafted with care. Many of these characters were not likable, and not meant to be. Edward is a good example! This dude was downright creepy, but believable. Where things really shine were the interpersonal dynamics. Hard topics such as rape, abuse, and forced pornography are dealt with, illuminating aspects society might prefer to ignore.

Though this was less a 'procedural’ novel, I found the crime and motivation interesting. Where things unraveled for me was with Jes. She's incredibly unprofessional, and does several things that would seriously jeopardise this case once it's in court. A good lawyer would rip it to shreds. If that were the point of the story, it'd be fine. But that didn't seem to be the point. And in the end, the solving of the crime itself seemed underwhelming.

***Many thanks to Netgalley and Standing Stone Books for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. ( )

When Beatrice, a high school English/Drama teacher discovers the dead body of Amber, the star of her high school play, while out walking her dog, she calls her daughter, Jes. Jes, Jesca Ashton, is a new police detective whose disliked by her good-ole-boy partner and barely tolerated by his uncle, the chief of police. Being first on the scene gives her the chance to be primary, a chance to prove herself if she can find the murderer. Unfortunately for Jes, and for readers, she is not very professional and her biases drive her investigation and Birds of Wonder off the rails.

Cynthia Robinson’s Birds of Wonder is full of suspects and with shifting points of view, we get to hear from all of them. The story is told by Beatrice, who found the body; Jesca, our fearless and dreadful detective; Liam, the philanthropic vintner who used to be Amber’s lawyer; Waldo, the “magical Latino” who worked with Amber at Liam’s vineyard; Edward, the creepy artist who was asked to drive Amber home; and Conner, Amber’s foster-brother and budding photographer. By coincidence, Jes and Liam had a one-night liaison in the past, one they repeat.

Jes pays no attention to police procedures, blithely sleeping with a viable suspect because she assumes he is innocent. Somehow, I don’t think the Supreme Court has a sleeping-with-the-suspect exemption to the Fourth Amendment, either. She allows her personal animus to violate someone’s civil rights, doing her best to ruin his life. This case is more about Jes exorcising her own demons than finding the truth for Amber.

There are things to like about Birds of Wonder. Robinson writes about art with lovely prose. There is compassion for the lost and broken–some of them. Her writing about nature is evocative. She writes beautifully, the problem is not the prose, it’s the story.

I found elements of the story distasteful. We are supposed to overlook Jes’ many failings as an investigator because the crime she is investigating is reprehensible. Then, when we learn she has the wrong end of the stick, we are supposed to overlook her errors because she saw something suspicious on a trip to Thailand, something she never confirmed, by the way, giving the accused no opportunity to offer an alternative explanation. Given how wrong she was about this investigation, why should we trust her instincts in the past?

Worse, Robinson contrives additional incidents while Jes was traveling to further justify Jes’ behavior and somehow we are supposed to approve of her. I don’t. Police are given extraordinary power and I am not okay with police abusing their power nor am I okay with the idea that it is all forgiven because of some past events. Civilians are not given a pass for that.

Frankly, Jes is an awful police officer. She thinks she can ignore the rules because she is so much smarter than everyone else yet, in the end, her fellow officers for whom she has such contempt have a better sense of the crime than she–though they are drawn so one-dimensionally even being right about one thing cannot redeem them. She resents her mother for something of which Beatrice is completely unaware. She breaks the law more than once, though I don’t mind so much when she helps Megan (Amber’s foster sister.) But all in all, this is a hot mess and the more I think about it, the more reasons I find not to like it. After all, I have not even mentioned the portrayal of Waldo, who functions as a Latino version of the “magical negro” trope.

Birds of Wonder will be released February 20th. I received an e-galley of Birds of Wonder from the publisher through NetGalley.

Birds of Wonder at Standing Stone Books
Cynthia Robinson author site

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