Three Cursing Birds (Paperback)

When thieves snatch a statue of the bird-headed Egyptian god, Thoth, and drop its owner from a third-story window, 1950s private detective Axel Hatchett is set on their trail. But there are actually three ivory ibis statues, and one of them may contain a treasure map Hatchett enlists the aid of his hash-slinging fiancee and a snake-handling English professor to help solve the case of the three cursed birds. We caught 50's noir detective Axel Hatchett in a reflective mood, and he told us about his investigation of the Three Cursing Birds, the fourth in the series of mystery novels he appears in. Here's what he told us while he lit up one of his infamous cheap cigars: "What do you know about sacred ibises, or the old Egyptian god, Thoth? I knew next to nothing about such things until a few nights before Christmas. That's when my old professor friend, Eben, got me out of bed with a midnight phone call. He told me that a former colleague of his, an English professor named Kirsten Lund, had been attacked that night and dropped out of the upstairs window of her house. She ended up with a broken leg. Not anybody's idea of a swell Christmas present. "Dr. Lund wasn't interested in having a gumshoe like me look into her little accident, so Eben hired me himself. Seems like he had some romantic feelings for the good doctor. I couldn't blame him-Lund was a looker, even if she was on the wrong side of fifty. She was talented, too, and that's how the trouble started. She liked to carve artsy figurines out of exotic woods, and bone, and even ivory. An old lover of Lund's-Ollie Crampton-had given her an ivory figure of the god Thoth, a guy with a man's body and the head of an ibis. That's a bird, in case you don't know. I didn't. Thoth must have been an easy guy to spot, especially when wearing a Hawaiian shirt. "Lund told me-from her hospital bed-that there was a story, and a mystery, behind the ivory ibis Crampton had given her. Supposedly, there was a treasure map hidden in the carving's base, pointing the way to a tomb full of gold, and other pawnable items, near the pyramids in Egypt. Of course the tale was so much hooey, but Lund's attackers didn't know that. They'd dangled her from her bedroom window to try to scare her into giving them the carved bird. She wouldn't tell them where it was, so they'd thrown her out the window. To make matters more confusing, Lund had carved two copies of the ibis. There were three of the damned dinguses No doubt the good doctor's treasure-hunting attackers were trying to track down the whole trio of birds certain that one of them contained a treasure map. "While I was trying to find Lund's assailants, and at the same time wondering what I was going to give my swell fiancee, Tracy, for Christmas, I got involved with quite a collection of creepy characters. There was a dentist who hunted for gold in our own fair Colorado, a snooty librarian, a couple of smart-alecky college kids, and three pretty feisty dames. Sometimes being a sleuth isn't much fun. And-wouldn't you know it?-by the time I got a handle on the case, somebody got murdered. How's that for Christmas cheer? I was able to solve the mystery, and corner the killer, and collect my paycheck. I even found the perfect gift for my best girl, Tracy. A pair of cuddly kittens. Better that than three cursing birds " Thanks, Axe, and don't stop believing in Santa."

General

Imprint:	Blood & Thunder Tales of the West
Country of origin:	United States
Series:	An Axel Hatchett Mystery, 4
Release date:	June 2014
First published:	June 2014
Authors:	Steven Leroy Nelson
Dimensions:	203 x 133 x 13mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback - Trade
Pages:	218
ISBN-13:	978-1-940469-03-4
Categories:	Books > Fiction > Genre fiction > Crime & mystery > General Promotions
LSN:	1-940469-03-1
Barcode:	9781940469034

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