I couldn't get into this audiobook. I tried listening to it but found myself drifting off and I'd had to rewind. After doing this several times, I just decided it wasn't for me. I just couldn't get interested in the narrative.

There was a lot going on in The Birds That Stay. This is the first of a new series and it seemed that the author wanted to get as many characters as possible into this first one. Starting with the murder of an old women, it weaves back and forth in time to try to explain why she was killed and by whom. We get to see multiple points of view, but we are mostly focused on Marie and Romeo. The mix of writer and detective is definitely not new and this entire thing felt like a throwback to older detective stories. I think it was the quaint town. Maybe that and the Nazis.

I learned a lot about parts of Quebec and its history. At times it seemed to go on too long on same tangents, but they were mostly brought back together in the end.

I could not get past the narrator for this one. I tried to listen , but after a few chapters it was just not working for me. It’s unfortunate, but I can’t finish it.

Rounding up to 3 stars.

Unfortunately I really didn't connect with any of the characters in the story; therefore the book seemed long and slow (to me). Other readers seem to like it, so this may just be a "not for me" book.

The description of this seemed to be similar to another author who has recently released a book#16 in their series so I was drawn in and wondering how this one might compare.

This book was provided by NetGalley and the author/Ann Lambert in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.

The audio book, The Birds That Stay is narrated by its author, which I found very neat. I have not listened to many books with that special touch, and it did not go unnoticed here. Ann Lambert has a great voice for reading a story, and portrayed different characters well. Her French accent authentic, since she is in fact from Montreal Canada, and I really enjoyed her speaking the language. She was able to make the characters seem more real with her voice.

The story is a slow moving mystery with a lot of historical fiction mixed in. The book took a while to gather pieces to form the puzzle, which is something I don"t normally enjoy in a mystery. I prefer a fast paced thriller mystery where I need to pay attention to keep up and then be surprised. I felt through the entire book, that maybe this book is better for an older generation. As a forty year old mom, I have become a thrill seeker who needs a quick fix in books. An older generation, with a settled lifestyle would appreciate this book. The characters often refer to grandchildren, and parents going into nursing homes, none of which is relatable to me at this time. I also feel that generation would find the historical fiction aspect very alluring. Going into the book, based on the description when I requested it, I did not know it would revolve around the Nazis in Canada, the Holocaust or religion. I really avoid most books that delve into those topics, especially at the lengths that this book does, because I am disgusted with that time in history and was raised with out religion. But, if you gave this book to my grandfather, he would love it. He lived the aftermath of the war, and can appreciate it.
Lambert soaked the book in nostalgia and memories. The background of each character was very thought out and seemed to be more of the meat of the book then the mystery. Certain memories from Marie's childhood, had no relevance to the story itself and were put in for shock factor. The book had plenty of uncomfortable situations without needing to add childhood abuse to it.
The mistaken identity twist, was well done, as well as keeping the killers identity quiet. The reveal in the end was perfect for where the story was going. I did enjoy the last few chapters where the pieces fell together and made sense. Overall the story was well told, but just not my taste.

For me, this book was a solid 7/10 stars. I will start with my negative feelings to get them out of the way. My one concern was the plot, which was very slow to get started and a bit common and underwhelming once it did. This actually didn't bother me much personally but people who pick this up because they want a mystery, are going to give up on it before it even gets going. Now on to the more positive feedback. I really appreciated the detail in the characters. I thought they were very well done and enjoyed all their individual stories. I also thought the author did a great job creating a sense of place and culture. I was quite content just following along in these characters lives in their Quebec community. I could have done without the Nazi plot altogether. I would like to see this author steer away from the mystery genre and focus more on a literary piece of work. As it stands, I enjoyed the book enough that I would like to read the next one in the series, so that's a good sign.

Intense, slow-burn psychological mystery set in Quebec.

There are so many things I enjoyed about The Birds That Stay. I suppose my favorite thing was that it's heavily character-focused rather than relying only on plot twists to hold up. Many thrillers I've read recently don't do a great job with character development, so I really appreciated that about Lambert's book - I got so attached to the cast that I can't wait to read the second installment. Oh yeah, did I say this was going to be a series?

My second favorite thing was the setting. I don't read much Canadian fiction, so I was pleasantly surprised to find myself in a completely new environment. This mystery is set in a small village in the Laurentian Mountains of Quebec, which is a province I've always wanted to visit. It's definitely different form your standard North American book, which is likely set in the US.

Finally, the plot itself is exciting, but certainly what you would describe as a slow burn. The plot is for sure unique and interesting: a woman was found strangled and frozen, and the neighbor Marie basically becomes a detective on the case. There are a lot of historical elements involved in solving the case, and not just in Canada but also Hungary during WWII. While I did wish it was a bit pacier, I really enjoyed the uniqueness and depth of the story.

*Thank you to the Publisher for a free advance copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Slower than I thought it would be, and because of that, I found it less engaging. Maybe if I had more control over the pace.

I received a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I very enjoyed listening to this mystery. I always like when a book is narrated by the author because they have a better sense of how the characters should sound and come across. The plot was interesting and captivating. My only "issue" in the smallest sense of the word were there are a lot of character introductions. I am assuming because this will become a series that most of the main character introductions will be reoccurring roles through out, but I found it a tad overwhelming trying to keep track of who was who. That aside I found the main characters, Marie and Romeo to be great characters to follow along with while they solved the mystery. I'm not always a fan on the insta-attraction but in this case it worked. I am interested to see where this duo go next!

I listened to this as an audiobook, but I think I would've enjoyed the read more possibly as a physical copy. It's more of a slow-paced, psychological, mystery that does more than you think which took me a little bit by surprise.

While I'm not trying to dissuade you from reading The Birds That Stay, there are really just some books that are read at certain times and I did not read this book at the right time. If you're looking for a more simplistic detective whodunit, this is not it. It's focused on characters' love and trust which makes it kind of difficult to put into one genre.

I had an okay time going through it, but I especially enjoyed the end. I just think I would've needed a little more plot substance in the middle to keep me engaged because sometimes I think it almost got too wrapped up in other plot lines (which is crazy because I usually love different lines).

Might give this one a second go when it's published so I can give a hard copy, so this is a pretty undecided review. Take caution before reading because this is definitely a book that wants to go in deep.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Birds That Stay was such a fun mystery to dive into! In it, we are in small Canadian village where an 82 year old woman has been murdered. After meeting Romeo, who is the Chief Inspector of Homicide, you quickly realize that there's no support on this investigation. Which does seem like it's going to make the job of finding out what happened and getting the suspect behind bars a bit harder.

Then you will meet Marie, who is the next door neighbor and basically a junior detective. Or she becomes one throughout the book since she keeps finding clues about what happened. These two were pretty interesting together and made a great team. Each piece of the puzzle just made the mystery and the book more interesting.

Honestly, I had so many questions while diving into this audiobook. So I put on my detectives cap and tried to solve the case as quickly as I could. Of course that went horribly wrong and I should stick to my day job from now on. In the end, I definitely enjoyed the heck out of this murder mystery and need a new one to dive into.

I enjoyed reading The Birds That Stay. While this story is rather an atypical mystery, the author, Ann Lambert, has done a fine job of writing a complex and compelling story filled with fascinating characters of depth.

The Birds That Stay by Ann Lambert
Narrated by: Ann Lambert
Publication Date: September 30, 2020
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Description from NetGalley...
“In a small village in the Laurentians, north of Montreal, a reclusive older woman is found strangled outside her home. Roméo Leduc, Chief Inspector for Homicide, is one day away from his first vacation in years but reluctantly answers the call on the case.

Marie Russell lives in the same small community. She did not know her elderly neighbour, and she does not expect to become embroiled in solving her murder. But when a startling new clue emerges, Marie becomes an inadvertent detective. As Marie and Roméo combine wits to find the killer, they are forced to face demons from their own pasts as they confront a case where no one and nothing is really as it seems.”
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Thank you to @NetGalley @ecwpress for the digital audiobook ARC in return for my honest review.
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My thoughts...
Ann Lambert is a Canadian author and was passionate in the narration of her book. It did bring her story to life. Although, the story was a bit confusing at times, too segmented, there were too many f-bombs for my liking, and it started quite slow. The background story of the mother being transitioned into a nursing home was quite prolonged and heavy with details. I did like the information about Canada after WWII, the description of Quebec and the “Quebecois French” mingled within the narration. It just wasn’t the thriller or mystery I was hoping to read. 🚨Trigger warning.

Beautifully written with well-developed characters. I was thoroughly invested in the complexity of the scenes and the people. The characters are full of secrets - some darker that others. I loved the two main characters - Chief Inspector Romeo Leduc and Marie Russell. Lambert creates fully developed characters with flaws and all that make them human. It is not a fast paced thriller or mystery. It is a slow paced methodical literary mystery with a lot of local flavor. It delves heavily into the characters backstories and how their past and their reactions to their past forms who they are now. The audio book was excellent. The accent of the French Quebecers and the snippets of French gave the novel a heartbeat. The narrator is Ann Lambert herself - being the author, she brought her characters and the scenes to life. I can not wait to read the next Russel and Leduc mystery in the series and I hope Ms. Lambert chooses to narrate another audio edition as well.

4.5 ⭐️
What can you live with?? How far will you go to disappear? And can people disappear, really?
This was great. The narrator was the author and she did a good job. She was clear and concise. Very easy to follow.
This felt like much more than a mystery. I would also group it with Women Literature. The audience for this book could really be for anyone who loves a good mystery.
I found out so much about Canada that I never knew. The book reads well, with surprises at every turn.
I recommend this audiobook.

Thank you NETGALLEY and the publisher for this audiobook ARC, in exchange for my honest review.

Extremely well written book! I listened to the audiobook version and it was narrated well and even gave a variation of accents which was great to hear in a Canadian based book. This book has several key players and each one is very contrasting to the other. The book spins into motion when an elderly woman is found murdered in her home and Romeo Leduc is called to investigate. Throughout the investigation his story continues to be intertwined with Marie Russell who is currently on sabbatical from her teaching role and struggling to get her mother into assisted living.

This was a seven layer cake of stories, each part continued to surprise you and each character grew more.

Although I liked this book, I'm hesitant to call it a mystery or thriller, I guessed a lot of it pretty quickly. Also with the diverse about of main players, I couldn't find a character I truly connected with that made me lack excitement for the story overall.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ann Lambert, and ECW Press Audio for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ann Lambert, a Canadian writer with years of experience as a playwright turns her skill to a mystery story set in the Laurentian mountains outside of Montreal. It his difficult to pigeonhole this book as such, because she deals with so much more by examining complex family interactions, the fallout of divorce, the desire for meaningful relationships and all this wrapped up with hints of long suppressed secrets from the past. As a playwright, Lambert is able to write crack dialogue but she also demonstrates a keen description of place and the ability to create sharply drawn characters. The intertwined development of a budding relationship between Detective Romeo LeDuc and Marie Russell suggests a possible future together. The mystery angle of this book is less developed than the complex relationships described about a range of interesting people we meet along the way. Thus, the story is actually more satisfying because of these added elements. I greatly enjoyed the audiobook interpreted by the author with its appropriate nuggets of French phrases. Looking forward to the sequel The Dogs of Winter now waiting on my kindle

The Birds that Stay isn't your typical mystery. In fact, I'd say it's best appreciated not as a mystery but as window into the culture and lives of its characters. If you're coming in expecting a classical murder mystery you might leave a bit disappointed, but the cultural flavor and contemplative nature of this book lends it a value of all its own.

So first off, this book is slow. I came in expecting a mystery so I was disappointed with all the pacing until I realized that this book was going for something a bit different. As a look the lives of the characters, a lot of time unrelated to the mystery is spent getting to know these characters and the problems that they face. There is also a lot of emphasis given to Canadian French culture, and that was interesting to me as a cultural outsider. The main character Marie is struggling both with a deep sense of loneliness and with the decision to put her aging mother in a care home. We get a close look into both her interpersonal relationships and how the area she lives in has changed over time. While many of these musings aren't directly related to the mystery, they and the mystery serve to further the thematic core of this book.

At its heart, The Birds That Stay is story about how the past relates to the present. In the mystery, secrets from the past don't always stay buried. In the scenery, we're treated to lush details to neighborhood life when our main character was growing up contrasted with the fact that these towns are now dwindling. As for the main characters, they're both haunted by loneliness after their children have grown and their marriages have failed. These characters feel very human, and are in a refreshing demographic that books focus on so rarely.

Another downside for me is that the mystery is rather simple. This book isn't really a mystery book in the classic sense, and the mystery does feel somewhat dwarfed by the broader topics the book addresses. The resolution to the mystery is satisfying, but there wasn't anything there that had me dying to know the resolution of the mystery. On the other hand, there are some segments in this book that are excellently impactful. Enough that I wish we could have seen the victim as a living character instead of just a dead one. Ann Lambert does a great job with the emotional narration in those scenes as well.

On the production front, I listened to the audiobook narrated by the author Ann Lambert and I admit I was impressed. Author narrations don't often stand up but Ann Lambert did a great job here.

I'd like to thank the author, Ann Lambert, and publisher, ECW Press, for the review copy I received. All opinions expressed here are my own.

I really wanted to love this book, but unfortunately, I don’t. The story starts off slow, and I was expecting to be pulled it, and it never happened. And it felt like the romance storyline was just plopped in there and it felt a little bit out of place.

I think one of the biggest drawbacks and why I could not enjoy the book more was because of the narration. It took me a while to get through this book because I had to read it in chunks because the author’s narration was dull.

I am a huge fans of thrillers usually but this one was not for me. I did not enjoy the characters or the plot. I wanted a fast paced thriller and I didn’t get that. I wanted developed characters and I didn’t get that either. I wanted to love this and it fell flat.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this early advanced reader copy.