In an attempt to escape hellish matrimony, Rachel Stanhope sojourns to her Aunt Miriam's ranch in Colorado in search of some peace and comfort. As a favor to her aunt, a bird enthusiast, Rachel agrees to host meetings of the local birdwatching society. On her first expedition, however, instead of finding a LeConte's sparrow, she makes a much more disturbing discovery: a dead body. Identified as a reporter for Birds of a Feather magazine, this man...

As a National Park Service ranger, Eric Linenger's job isn't always easy. Asked to oversee a "prescribed burn" of 1,000 acres in Rocky Mountain National Park, Eric prepares to contain the fire to the necessary acreage and do his best to protect the local birds' habitats. Once the fire is ablaze, the delinquent flames spread wildly to areas unintended for burning, and Eric's boss, Wayne Devlin, is found dead near the fire's origin. Eric takes it upon...

Rachel Wilder's world takes a whirlwind turn when renowned bird researcher Guy Saxby falls in love with her friend, Dorothy MacBean. Even more shocking is when Guy's protégé is mysteriously murdered and Guy is the chief suspect. As Rachel and Dorothy work hard to clear his name, Rachel discovers the victim's innovative exposé on the painted bunting, upstaging his own mentor's research, and she begins to wonder just how far one bunting would go...