Critically acclaimed author of The Feather Detective: Mystery, Mayhem, and the Magnificent Life of Roxie Laybourne from @AvidReaderPress. Comms @AMRActionFund
Boston
Joined February 2009
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Hard to overstate how good he was at narrative nonfiction. So thorough and so stylish, and always maintained momentum and suspense without defaulting to hyperbole.
theguardian.com/books/2026/m…
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Elton John's jet narrowly avoids bird strike during take-off in UK dailymail.co.uk/news/article…
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So great and gratifying to see The Feather Detective make NPR’s 2025 Books We Love list. Here’s the write up, nerdy tags and all.
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Inspiring people to do awesome (and kinda weird) things since 2025! If you’ve not read The Feather Detective, what are you waiting for?!? You too may be compelled to skin birds afterward!
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A duck hunter in Maine got stuck in mud and nearly died last week. This is exactly what happened to Roxie Laybourne when she was collecting specimens off NC coast circa 1930s. Must be terrifying. people.com/hunter-rescued-st… via @people
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🥰🥰🥰 Thanks @nypl!
'The Feather Detective: Mystery, Mayhem, and the Magnificent Life of Roxie Laybourne' by Chris Sweeney is the story of the world's first forensic ornithologist, who broke down barriers, solved murders, and investigated airplane crashes.
#BookOfTheDay: on.nypl.org/4nyGTLz
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Awesome to see The Feather Detective on this @WSJBooks Best Reviews of August list. wsj.com/arts-culture/books/1… #birds #TrueCrime #books
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Cool that Dwane Johnson is being praised for his acting chops b/c of his performance in The Smashing Machine. But he was also very good (if a bit comedic) in Pain & Gain, an overlooked and very amusing film. nytimes.com/2025/09/02/movie…
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Heck yes! Thanks readers! And thanks @Longreads & @BostonGlobeMag
Congratulations to @cbsweeney! He won this week's audience award for "She Was a Quiet Bird Expert. Then She Was Called to Investigate a Murder in Maine." at @BostonGlobeMag
bostonglobe.com/2025/06/23/m…
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Such an insane honor to get reviewed in Science!
The Feather Detective probes the life of Roxie Laybourne, the first forensic ornithologist.
Read the #ScienceBooks Review: scim.ag/47or0Cv
ALT The cover of The Feather Detective
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Insane. Spanish fighter jet narrowly misses flock of birds at an air show. "one of our F-18 fighter jets carried out an evasive manoeuvre upon detecting a flock of birds in its trajectory" bbc.com/news/videos/clyr2qx0…
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Gull having a rat breakfast this morning in front of my house in #somerville Hope the rat wasn’t loaded with rodenticides!
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Had too much fun telling @nprscottsimon about the time I spilled a bunch of murder feathers on my lap while going through Roxie Laybourne’s archives. Head over to his substack to hear about it: open.substack.com/pub/scotts…
