Birding Fiction

Novels from a birding perspective

By birding fiction I do not mean the equivalent of the fisherman’s tales of ‘the one that got away’, but novels written from a birders’ perspective such as the sub-genre of ‘birder murders’.

Birds have sometimes been the hero of the piece (the Maltese Falcon) or the anti-hero (Birds!) but birdwatchers as her, villain or even incidental character is a pretty new phenomenon. A few have even made it into the movies (Kes).

Below you will find a number of novelists some of whom have gone on to be TV or Film writers too. Perhaps, in the UK at least, the best known is Ann Cleeves, not only writing several novels about birders but two TV series (‘Vera’ and ‘Shetland’)

There are also some links to websites of the authors or other birding fictional subjects.

 

Useful Reading
  • A Bird in the Hand

    | By Ann Cleeves | Pan | 2014 | Paperback | 224 Pages | ISBN 9781447289050 ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • A Bobwhite Killing

    | (A Bob White Birder Murder Mystery) | by Jan Dunlop | North Star Press | 2010 | Paperback | 256 pages | ISBN 9780878393756 ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • A Guide to the Beasts of East Africa

    | By Nicholas Drayson | Penguin | 2013 | Paperback | ISBN 9780241969175 ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • A Murder of Crows

    | (A Bob White Birder Murder Mystery) | by Jan Dunlop | North Star Press | 2012 | Paperback | ISBN 9780878398768 ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • A Nest In Ashes

    | By Christine Goff | Astor + Blue Editions | 2016 | Paperback | 202 Pages | ISBN 9781941286555 ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • A Parliament of Owls

    | By Christine Goff | Astor + Blue Editions | 2016 | Paperback | 176 Pages | ISBN 9781941286623 ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • A Prey to Murder

    | By Ann Cleeves | Pan | 2014 | Paperback | 184 Pages | ISBN 9781447289081 ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • A Rant of Ravens

    | By Christine Goff | Penguin | 2000 | Paperback | ISBN 9780425173602 ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • A Sacrifice Of Bunting

    | By Christine Goff | Astor + Blue Editions | 2016 | Paperback | 190 Pages | ISBN 9781941286548 ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • Another Man's Poison

    | By Ann Cleeves | Pan | 2014 | Paperback | 208 Pages | ISBN 9781447289005 ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • Beware The Laughing Gull

    | (A Lucy Wayles Mystery) | By Lydia Adamson | Signet | 1998 | Paperback | 240 Pages | ISBN 9780451195982 ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • Beware the Butcherbird

    | (A Lucy Wayles Mystery) | By Lydia Adamson | Mass Market | 1997 | Paperback | 256 Pages | ISBN 9780451191212 ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • Beware the Tufted Duck

    | (A Lucy Wayles Mystery) | By Lydia Adamson | Mass Market | 1996 | Paperback | 224 Pages | ISBN 9780451190246 ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • Come Death and High Water

    | By Ann Cleeves | Pan | 2014 | Paperback | 208 Pages | ISBN 9781447289067 ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • Death Takes A Gander

    | By Christine Goff | Astor + Blue Editions | 2016 | Paperback | 224 Pages | ISBN 9781941286562 ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • Death of a Songbird

    | By Christine Goff | Astor + Blue Editions | 2016 | Paperback | 214 Pages | ISBN 9781941286586 ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • Falcon Finale

    | (A Bob White Birder Murder Mystery) | by Jan Dunlop | North Star Press | 2011 | Paperback | 215 pages | ISBN 9780878394487 ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • Guide to the Birds Of East Africa - A Novel

    | By Nicholas Drayson | Mariner | 2009 | Paperback | 208 Pages | ISBN 9780547247953 ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • High Island Blues

    | By Ann Cleeves | Pan | 2014 | Paperback | 240 Pages | ISBN 9781447289036 ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • Hoot to Kill

    | (A Robyn Devara Mystery) | By karen Dudley | Ravenstone | 2003 | Paperback | ISBN 9780888012265 ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • Macaws of Death

    | (A Robyn Devara Mystery) | By Karen Dudley | Ravenstone | 2002 | Paperback | 373 Pages | 9780888012746 ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • Mill on the Shore

    | By Ann Cleeves | Pan | 2014 | Paperback | 224 Pages | ISBN 9781447288978 ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • Murder in Paradise

    | By Ann Cleeves | Pan | 2014 | Paperback | 192 Pages | ISBN 9781447289074 ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • Murder on Warbler Weekend

    | (A Bob White Birder Murder Mystery) | by Jan Dunlop | North Star Press | 2009 | Paperback | 227 pages | ISBN 9780878393218 ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • Murmurations

    | (an anthology of uncanny stories about birds) | By Nicholas Royle | Two Ravens Press | 2011 | Paperback | 300 Pages | ISBN 9781906120597 ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • Ptarmaggedon

    | (A Robyn Devara Mystery) | By karen Dudley | Ravenstone | 2006 | Paperback | 320 Pages | ISBN 9780888013231 ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • Sea Fever

    | By Ann Cleeves | Pan | 2014 | Paperback | 192 Pages | ISBN 9781447288992 ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • Swift Justice

    | (A Bob White Birder Murder Mystery) | by Jan Dunlop | North Star Press | 2014 | Paperback | 256 pages | 9780878397693 ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • The Boreal Owl Murder

    | (A Bob White Birder Murder Mystery) | by Jan Dunlop | North Star Press | 2008 | Paperback | 284 pages | ISBN 9780878392773 ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • The Goshawk

    | By T H White | NYRB Classics | 2007 | Paperback | 240 Pages | ISBN 9781590172490 ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • The Kiskadee of Death

    | (A Bob White Birder Murder Mystery) | by Jan Dunlop | North Star Press | 2015 | Paperback | 256 pages | ISBN 9780878397990 ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • The Red Heron

    | (A Robyn Devara Mystery) | By karen Dudley | Ravenstone | 1999 | Paperback | 285 Pages | ISBN 9780888012401 ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • The Stonor Eagles

    | By William Horwood | Franklin Watts | 1982 | Paperback | 555 Pages | ISBN 9780531098738 ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • The Twitch

    | (Birdwatching can be murder) | By Kevin Parr | Random House UK | 2014 | Paperback | 272 Pages | ISBN 9781908717986 ISBN: Buy this book from NHBS.com
Other Links
  • Author - Ann Cleeves

    Website
    While she was cooking in the Bird Observatory on Fair Isle, she met her husband Tim, a visiting ornithologist. She was attracted less by the ornithology than the bottle of malt whisky she saw in his rucksack when she showed him his room.
  • Author - Chris Goff

    Website
    Chris Goff is an award-winning author of six novels based on environmental themes and two international thrillers.
  • Author - Karen Dudley

    Website
    The requisite authorial cat. I am tweaker of words, a procrastinator of work, a scribbler of novels, and a maker of gourmet meals. I am also a mum, which is more work than all of the above put together. Great perqs though!

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