Books in the George and Molly Palmer-Jones series

A Bird in the Hand is the first novel featuring George and Molly Palmer-Jones by Ann Cleeves, author of the Shetland and Vera Stanhope crime series.In England's birdwatching paradise, a new breed has been sighted - a murderer . . .Young Tom French was found dead, lying in a marsh on the Norfolk coast, with his head bashed in and his binoculars still around his neck. One of the best birders in England, Tom had put the village of Rushy on the birdwatching map. Everyone liked him. Or did they?George Palmer-Jones, an elderly birdwatcher who decided quietly to look into the brutal crime, discovered mixed feelings aplenty. Still, he remained baffled by a deed that could have been motivated by thwarted love, pure envy, or something else altogether.But as he and his fellow "e;twitchers"e; flocked from Norfolk to Scotland to the Scilly Isles, in response to rumours of rare sightings, George - with help from his lovely wife, Molly - gradually discerned the true markings of a killer. All he had to do was prove it . . . before the murderer strikes again.

High Island Blues is the eighth and final mystery novel featuring George and Molly Palmer-Jones by Ann Cleeves, author of the Shetland and Vera Stanhope crime series.Swarms of migrating birds fall from the sky seeking shelter as the spring storms begin, but the birders are distracted by a far more shocking sight, Mick Brownscombe's dead body . . .Old college friends Rob, Oliver and Mick reunite on a bird watching tour to America. It is the first time in twenty years the three have been together - since the fateful holiday to America during which they met the enigmatic Laurie . . . The tour party is hoping for spectacular sights at High Island on the Upper Texas coast, but as the rain pours down and the birds descend, Mick is discovered dead. Back in Britain PIs George and Molly Palmer-Jones are working on a minor fraud case with name of Brownscombe Associates attached. So when George receives a desperate transatlantic call from his friend Rob, he is on the first plane to Texas.His investigations make little progress - until the second body is found . . .

The Mill on the Shore is the seventh mystery novel featuring George and Molly Palmer-Jones by Ann Cleeves, author of the Shetland and Vera Stanhope crime series.Meg Morrissey refuses to believe that her husband James committed suicide.James was in high spirits because he'd finally completed his long awaited autobiography. He didn't leave a suicide note. But even more suspiciously the record of his life's environmental achievement, his magnum opus, has gone missing. Troubled, Meg calls in amateur sleuths George and Molly Palmer-Jones to investigate. They soon uncover that life in the Morrissey family is not as idyllic as it seems - relations with ex-wife Cathy are not as friendly as Meg makes out and James appears to have fallen for another women. But the disappearance of his autobiography is most puzzling of all, did he uncover a secret so damaging someone was prepared to kill for it?George and Molly must try to fit together the missing pieces of information to reveal who could have wanted James dead . . .

Another Man's Poison is the sixth mystery novel featuring George and Molly Palmer-Jones by Ann Cleeves, author of the Shetland and Vera Stanhope crime series.Molly Palmer-Jones arrives at her aunt Ursula's house one morning, only to find her body slumped lifeless on the sofa . . .Ursula Ottway's beautiful cottage is wanted by her landlord, politician Marcus Grenville, so he can convert it into a holiday residence. So when Ursula discovers that the illegal use of poisoned bait on Grenville's land has killed not only a rare bird of prey but her two beloved cats, she storms to his house and threatens revenge. Shocked and saddened to find Ursula's body the morning after this conflict, Molly and her husband George decide to piece together a picture of Ursula's last days. And it soon becomes clear that, for many people on the estate, hers was a very convenient death.The Palmer-Joneses embark on a murder investigation but even their professional expertise doesn't prepare them for what is to follow. A lifetime's worth of secrets must surface before a killer can finally be brought to justice . . .

Sea Fever is the sixth mystery novel featuring George and Molly Palmer-Jones by Ann Cleeves, author of the Shetland and Vera Stanhope crime series.A rare and unrecorded sea bird captures all the birders attention whilst right under their noses the most fanatical birder of them all disappears . . .Later, Greg Franks' corpse, the head bludgeoned, is found floating in the sea. Had it not been for Greg Franks, amateur detective George Palmer-Jones would not have been on the bird watching trip in Cornwall to the first place. He had been hired by Greg Franks' anxious parents to try and persuade their errant son to return home. George would have turned the case down flat but the offer of a free weekend's bird watching was too tempting to resist. Now, he must unhappily shoulder the burden of finding why the young man had been murdered.Who hated Franks enough to kill him? Almost everyone, it seems . . .

A Prey to Murder is the fourth mystery novel featuring George and Molly Palmer-Jones by Ann Cleeves, author of the Shetland and Vera Stanhope crime series.The huge and powerful hawk dominated the scene. Its talons pierced the woman's flesh and the beak pointed towards her eyes . . .The sight is a particularly horrible shock for George Palmer-Jones, ornithologist and amateur detective, as he was an old friend of the victim Eleanor Masefield. George and his wife Molly are staying at Eleanor's family run hotel, and whilst George believed Eleanor was a beautiful and charming widow, Molly has other ideas.Is Molly a little jealous? Or was Eleanor more a black widow - a ruthless manipulator of all those caught in her far-reaching web? Can Molly prove it in time to prevent another death?

Murder in Paradise is the third mystery novel featuring George and Molly Palmer-Jones by Ann Cleeves, author of the Shetland and Vera Stanhope crime series.Cheerful festivities take a dark turn when the groom's sister slips and tumbles to the perilous rocks below . . .Newlyweds Jim and Sarah were welcomed home from their honeymoon to the Scottish island of Kinness with a huge celebration, and the whole island was present to witness the bitter end. But did Jim's younger sister Mary fall? Or was she pushed? George Palmer-Jones, retired birdwatcher and amateur detective, suspected the latter, but proving it would be difficult - no one wanted to upset the balance of the island's ancient relationships.There were definitely secrets being hidden, and George, helped by Sarah, began to piece together a tragic story he wished he had never heard. Kinness was a paradise lost.

Come Death and High Water is the second mystery novel featuring George and Molly Palmer-Jones by Ann Cleeves, author of the Shetland and Vera Stanhope crime series.The picturesque privately-owned island of Gillibry off the North Devon coast turns out to be the perfect site for a murder . . .A routine weekend visit by the Gillibry Bird Observatory Trust is made memorable by the owner's announcement that he is going to sell the island. A sale would mean the end of the Observatory, which for some of the birders made life worth living. A fire in Charlie Todd's cottage added to their distress. And when, next morning, after a fierce storm, they found Charlie dead in a bird hide, their pleasant September weekend assumed a dangerous new face.Charlie Todd's murder could have been the deed of any member of the Trust. And it falls to one of their own, George Palmer-Jones, to unravel the identity of killer within their midst . . .