Before Shetland and Vera, Ann Cleeves wrote the George and Molly Palmer-Jones series following remarkable mysteries in a birdwatching community--now in print for the first time in the US. Old college friends Rob, Oliver, and Mick reunite on an American bird watching tour. It is the first time in twenty years the three have been together--since their fateful trip to America when 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 swarms of migrating birds fall from the sky seeking shelter, the birders are distracted by a far more shocking sight: Mick's dead body. Back in Britain, Private Investigators George and Molly Palmer-Jones are working on a minor fraud case attached to Mick's family. 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 . . .