Killer Flock

While this is the 11th in a long-running series, readers can ignore all the threads of the ongoing story and only attend to the current bizarreness of a birdwatching tour occurring in wintry Nebraska, and immediate family drama. Kate Fox is preparing for an incoming blizzard when the sheriff calls to tell her that a van of birdwatchers has run off the road and needs rescuing. All local first responders are otherwise occupied, so Kate, sister Louise, and friend Deenie marshal forces in true midwestern fashion and take the stranded group to the local high school to ride out the storm. Louise, a miracle worker of sorts, arrives with enough food, equipment, and know-how to feed and provide beds for the group, though perhaps not to the visitors’ snobby standards. This is a record storm, and they are truly stuck, but however prepared they are, murder is not something that is expected. With homage to Agatha Christie and old-fashioned library books, the ordeal is survived, and the crime is solved in this oddly retro and engaging locked-room mystery.