C.B. Greenfield
Subtitle: The Piano Bird
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Published: January 12, 1985
Language: eng
Format: Mass Market Paperback
ISBN-13: 9780345311184
Subjects: Mystery & Detective - General; Fiction / Mystery & Detective / General; Fiction - Mystery/ Detective; Mystery and detective stories; Mystery/Suspense
First sentence: C H APTER        ONE
THE TWO MEN LOPED DOWN THE BEACH. WELL, ONE OF
them loped: the tall one, with the long neck hanging slightly forward from hunched shoulders like a tortoise on long legs, a peaked canvas cap pulled over an inquisitive nose, knobby knees under baggy Bermuda shorts. The other—stocky, square, with short, powerful legs, a blunt-featured face, the alert, aggressive air of a terrier, younger by a dozen years or more-took a step and a half to every one of the Tortoise's, his feet rolling quickly from heel to toe as the double set of footprints followed them along the shore.
"I can't believe you're doing this to me," the Terrier yapped.
"To you. I'm doing it to you. If I went down in a plane it would be happening to you."
"A whole year of sweat and agony!"
"Your sweat, right? Only yours."
They passed me as I stooped to the sand to pick up a small translucent shell. The sun baked the backs of my legs and the thin cotton of the worn blue shirt of Elliot's that I wore over an old pair of shorts. I wandered on down the beach behind the two...
Description: Just off the coast of Florida, on lovely
Sanibel Island, a group of showbiz people are
feuding over who gets what percent of the
Broadway musical they are planning.
Also on Sanibel is amateur detective
Maggie Rome. So when the body of the luscious Thea
(scheduled to star in the musical) is found
in a deserted bird sanctuary, Maggie begins to
investigate. And ends up summoning her boss.
To the rescue, C.B. Greenfield.
The brilliant and crotchety newspaperman relies on
Maggie for legwork and eavesdropping—then,
in his inimitable fashion, he puts his mind to
solving this delightfully witty mystery.
"Maggie's narration is brightly amusing, some of the show-biz dialogue is endearingly nasty— and the Sanibel/Captiva background is a well-sketched treat."
The Kirkus Reviews
Notes: "A WINNING CAPER"
      Mystery News
"THOROUGHLY ENTERTAINING."
Sacramento Bee