Death Takes A Gander

By Christine Goff

Bad luck seems to follow U.S. Fish and Wildlife Special Agent, Angela Dimato. Her partner is dead and all evidence points to a mere accident as the cause. And when she is assigned to oversee a local fishing tournament, she discovers two hundred dead Canada Geese. Following her famed intuition, Angela investigates - with the help of an eccentric group of birdwatchers. Startlingly, she discovers that her partner’s death may be connected, and may not have been so freakishly accidental after all.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Astor Blue Editions
• Release date: Aug 3, 2016
• ISBN: 9781941286272

Christine Goff

Chris Goff is the award-winning author of the bestselling "Birdwatcher's Mystery" series. She was named ‘Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers' 2002 Writer of the Year’ and two of her novels were also finalists for the prestigious ‘Willa Literary Award for Best Original Paperback Fiction’. Her latest book, ‘Death Shoots A Birdie’, was also a Finalist for the ‘Colorado Authors League Best Genre Fiction’ Award. Having grown up in a small mountain town in Colorado, she spent a lot of time outdoors—camping, fishing, hiking, playing tennis and skiing, with wildlife always around. Her father was a true outdoorsman and together they explored the wilderness of Colorado, sailed in Maine and walked extensively from the sandy California beaches to the windswept cliffs of Cornwall, England. It was her mother, however, who was the major influence on Chris commencing a writing career. She encouraged her from an early age, and later her job as a Vice President of the Gannett Broadcasting Company led to Chris growing up surrounded by some of the best media talent in the country. At college Chris studied journalism, determined to become an investigative reporter. Deciding this was not for her, however, she tried her hand at a variety of jobs—PR, engineering, ice cream store manager—until finally returning to writing. She began by writing non-fiction for several local newspapers in Summit County, Colorado, as well as articles for regional and national publication. She later edited rock and ice-climbing guides for the ‘Chockstone Press’, worked in graphic production for ‘Living the Good News’, and taught writing workshops for the Colorado Free University, the University of Colorado, and at writer's conferences internationally. A long-standing member of multiple writing organizations, she has served on several local, regional and national boards, including that of the ‘Mystery Writers of America’.

Reviews for Death Takes A Gander

[newsieq · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Angela Dimato is a rookie special agent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, stationed in Colorado. Her New Year’s Eve is interrupted with a call for backup from the officer who’s training her, Ian Ogburn. By the time she trades in her party dress for a uniform and drives to Barr Lake, Ian is dead. Angela finds his body caught in a mist net that’s typically set up to snag passerines in order to band, weigh and release them. (I had to look up the word “passerine” – it’s an order of birds that includes jays, blackbirds, finches, warblers, and sparrows.) Ian’s autopsy comes back with a finding of suicide, but Angela doesn’t believe it. She wonders why Ian would call for backup then hang himself.While she was at Barr Lake, in addition to Ian’s body, Angela also discovered a trumpeter swan in obvious distress. While assigned to work at an ice-fishing tournament, she discovers dozens of geese in similar distress. Angela’s intuition tells her the swan, the geese, and Ian’s death are connected and she sets out to discover just how. The attempted murder of a park ranger who works at a bird rehab facility – a friend of Ian’s – convinces Angela she’s on the right track.Readers of light mysteries, myself included, like learning something new while enjoying a good story. However, Death Takes a Gander (subtitle: A Birdwatcher’s Mystery) has way too much “bird” and not enough “mystery.” Spending pages on how to perform gastric lavage (similar to stomach pumping) on a goose is way more than I need to know! I’m not usually put off by grammatical errors – they must be very obvious to get in the way of my reading pleasure. Using “it’s” as a possessive is something, however, that does interfere, and I came across several instances of that error. Death Takes a Gander had too many distractions for me to enjoy and recommend it. It is possible avid birdwatchers might find it more enjoyable. First published in Mystery News, Feb-Mar 2005 issue.