Adopted at birth, Hannah Conti is determined to trace her family - but didn't bargain for a mother convicted of murder. Hannah is convinced that her mother is innocent, and hires Grace Smith to prove it. Glad to get out of the office (the boiler's broken and it's freezing!) Grace soon uncovers the story of the very messy murder of teacher Trudy Hepburn. As she investigates, she is obstructed by an awful lot of people who would rather she stopped digging. As if this wasn't enough, Grace has been conned into bird-sitting a psychotic parrot, a chauvinistic cop keeps trying to move in to Grace's house - and someone's trying to kill her ...

British PI Grace Smith is parrot-sitting Talulah, an alcoholic bird who learned to talk by watching old movies and porn. Meanwhile, the biggest chauvinist in the Seatoun police force is trying to move into Grace s spare room. Complicating matters further is Hanna Conti, who wants Grace to prove the innocence of her birth mother, convicted 20 years ago for a brutal murder. And, finally, somebody wants Grace to stop her investigations or else. Evans is billed as England s answer to Janet Evanovich, but this sells her short. Her heroine is not as slapsticky as Stephanie Plum Sure to please an American audience. Library Journal

Liz Evans is in her early forties. She has worked in all sorts of companies from plastic moulding manufacturers to Japanese banks through to film production and BBC Radio. She was born in Highgate, went to school in Barnet and now lives in Hertfordshire.