M.G. Leonard, Feather (The Twitchers #4), Walker Books, February 2024, 306 pp., ISBN 9781529506112
Feather is the fourth and last book in the award-winning Twitchers series about bird watching enthusiast, Twitch, and his friendship group of birdwatching detectives, called the Twitchers.
Ava is on a school museum visit, when she discovers that drawers of invaluable bird of paradise skins (with their colourful feathers attached) have been stolen from the famous Alfred Wallace Collection. Ava wastes no time in collecting clues and contacting the other Twitchers to work on solving the mystery together. The irreplaceable skins must be found and promptly returned intact.
Whilst the story initially develops slowly, the suspense builds when the Twitchers track down the dangerous, tough (but not too frightening) thieves and discover a girl that the crooks are keeping captive. Can they rescue the girl as well as the valuable stolen bird feathers and also avoid attacks from both the thieves and a highly intelligent pet crow?
Alongside the engaging action-packed storyline, with surprising plot twists, is a story about how the friends collaborate and support each other, valuing the varying abilities that each can contribute to the rescue. Interesting facts about birds and bird conservation, woven into the dialogue, add to the appeal of the story.
Being a longish text (over 300 pages) with several characters and some complex detail about the theft and the Twitchers’ plotting, I recommend Feather for readers aged over 9 years old who enjoy mystery stories and have good reading comprehension ability.
Reviewed by Barbara Swartz
