{ "item_title" : "The Feather Detective", "item_author" : [" Chris Sweeney "], "item_description" : "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. So the FAA instructed the bird remains be sent to the Smithsonian Institution for examination, where they would land on the desk of the only person in the world equipped to make sense of it all. Her name was Roxie Laybourne, a diminutive but singular woman with thick glasses, a heavy Carolina drawl, and a passion for birds. Roxie didn't know it at the time, but that box full of dead birds marked the start of a remarkable scientific journey. She became the world's first forensic ornithologist, investigating a range of crimes and calamites on behalf of the FBI, the US Air Force, and even NASA. The Feather Detective takes readers deep within the vaunted backrooms of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History to tell the story of a burgeoning science and the enigmatic woman who pioneered it. While her male colleagues in taxidermy embarked on expeditions around the world and got plum promotions, Roxie stayed with her birds. Using nothing more than her microscope and bits of feathers, she helped prosecute murderers, kidnappers, and poachers. When she wasn't testifying in court or studying evidence from capital crimes, she was helping aerospace engineers and Air Force crews as they raced to bird-proof their airplanes before disaster struck again. In The Feather Detective, award-winning journalist Chris Sweeney charts the astonishing life and work of this overlooked pioneer. Once divorced, once widowed, and sometimes surly, Roxie shattered stereotypes and pushed boundaries. Her story is one of persistence and grit, obsession and ingenuity. Drawing on reams of archival material, court documents, and exclusive interviews, Sweeney delivers a moving and amusing portrait of a woman who overcame cultural and scientific obstacles at every turn, forever changing our understanding of birds--and the feathers they leave behind.", "item_img_path" : "https://covers1.booksamillion.com/covers/bam/1/66/802/584/1668025841_b.jpg", "price_data" : { "retail_price" : "30.00", "online_price" : "30.00", "our_price" : "30.00", "club_price" : "30.00", "savings_pct" : "0", "savings_amt" : "0.00", "club_savings_pct" : "0", "club_savings_amt" : "0.00", "discount_pct" : "10", "store_price" : "30.00" } }

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What do a 1960 airplane disaster in Boston, a 1971 tar-and-feathering in Michigan, a 1972 murder trial in Maine and the dawning of forensic ornithology at the Smithsonian Institute have in common? The pioneering work of hardworking, taciturn Roxie Laybourne, the U.S.’s first forensic ornithologist.

In The Feather Detective: Mystery, Mayhem, and the Magnificent Life of Roxie Laybourne, award-winning journalist Chris Sweeney braids Laybourne’s life story with aviation history, forensic science, true crime and wildlife research. Laybourne’s 1910 birth coincided with the opening of the Smithsonian’s permanent National Museum of Natural History. By the time Laybourne was 50, she had been working for more than 15 years in the taxidermy studio, doing the delicate work of skinning and restoring bird specimens. Sweeny describes it as a “gamesome boys’ club whose members trafficked in exotic animal carcasses, potent chemicals, and practical jokes.” Laybourne’s mantra to keep her head down and do the work helped her survive.

In 1960, she received a curious new assignment. A flight had crashed into Boston Harbor moments after takeoff, killing 62 people. Many dead birds were left on the runway, and shredded feathers and animal tissue were found in the plane’s engines. The Federal Aviation Administration sent these remains to Laybourne, and she confirmed that a large flock of European starlings were sucked into the plane’s engines and caused the crash. In order to not deter the growing popularity of commercial flight, the FAA launched a long-term project to understand bird-plane collisions and started sending Laybourne the feathers and carcasses of felled birds. 

From here, the FBI, FAA and Fish and Wildlife Service called upon Laybourne to testify in court regarding a variety of crimes: murders, animal poaching and, in one case, a tar-and-feathering (feathers from one suspect’s pillow matched those found on the victim). An international ambassador for science and birds, Laybourne inspired women to follow in her footsteps—if they could keep up with her relentless work ethic and weren’t afraid to ride in her sports car. 

Relying on court documents and many archival interviews with Laybourne, Sweeney brings this feisty pioneer to life, steering through her lively career with gusto to deliver an unforgettable portrait of a true game changer. After reading The Feather Detective, readers will feel privileged to know Roxie Laybourne through this vividly told biography.