The Feather Detective: Mystery, Mayhem, and the Magnificent Life of Roxie Laybourne

“A biography that reads like a novel.” —The Wall Street Journal • “Laybourne was a badass.” —Los Angeles Times • “Sweeney’s biography must be read to be believed.” —The Millions • “Engrossing...Riveting...This entrances.” —Publishers Weekly • NPR Books We Love 2025 • Scientific American’s Best Nonfiction of 2025 The fascinating and remarkable true story of the world’s first forensic ornithologist—Roxie Laybourne, who broke down barriers for women, solved murders, and investigated deadly airplane crashes with nothing more than a microscope and a few fragments of feathers. In 1960, an Eastern Airlines flight had no sooner lifted from the runway at Boston Logan Airport when it struck a flock of birds and took a nosedive into the shallow waters of the Boston Harbor, killing sixty-two people. This was the golden age of commercial airflight—luxury in the skies—and safety was essential to the precarious future of air travel.