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Lately, it seems the trend in fiction writing
is to take some known truth and weave a plausible story around it. The Da
Vinci Code led skeptics and
believers alike to search for images of Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.” In The
Rule of Four, readers were introduced to a 500-year-old Hypnerotomachia and
teased with the possibility that valuable pieces might have escaped the Bonfire
of the Vanities. And now with Martin Davies’s The Conjurer’s Bird, we’ll
be pondering the actual location of the Mysterious Bird of Ulieta.
The Conjurer’s Bird actually contains two stories in one. Chapters
alternate between the present and the past. Characters in the present-day
chapters are trying to piece together the puzzle of Joseph Banks, his mistress,
Johann Forster, Captain Cook’s second expedition, and what happened to the
specimen of a bird that became extinct before it was ever really discovered. The
chapters of the past give the reader an omniscient view of what actually
happened. The fictional account, anyway.
When I first began reading, I found myself wanting to read only the modern-day
chapters. These people were solving the mystery and it was exciting. But as the
book went on, I found that I couldn’t wait to get through the present so I could
return to the past. Davies’s story of Joseph Banks and his love affair with
“Miss B” became so engaging that, frankly, I didn’t care if the researchers of
the present found the damn bird or not.
Set primarily in the United Kingdom, The Conjurer’s Bird has a very
British
feel to it. I guess it should. Since Martin Davies is a senior producer at BBC
Television, the author of two mysteries featuring Sherlock Holmes’s housekeeper,
and lives in London, he probably knows a bit about being British.
To recommend or not to recommend? The Conjurer’s Bird is not some
thought-provoking piece to be listed as a “must read.” But if you’re looking to
escape into a mystery that is not complete fluff, I’d give it a shot.
Review by Beth Golay, December 30, 2005
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