In a bird watcher's paradise, murder comes home to roost.
Among the birders from around the world gathered for the dazzling spring avian migration on the Texas coast are three old friends from England - Rob, Mick, and Oliver - celebrating the twentieth anniversary of their first unforgettable trip to High Island.
But the party's over when Mick, the introvert who surprisingly got the girl they all wanted years ago, is murdered. The police tag Rob for the crime, but shrewd birder-investigator George Palmer-Jones focuses his attention on some odd ducks among the English contingent.
Meanwhile, back home in England, George's wife, Molly, digs up the dirt on a save-the-earth society. And on High Island, a killer finds that one murder is not enough . . .