Chris Sweeney

Hunter Rescued by Police After Sinking into ‘Quicksand’-Like Mud: ‘The More He Struggled, the Deeper He Became’ A man in Maine unexpectedly found himself stuck waist-deep in mud during a hunting excursion and had to be rescued, authorities said.

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-rescu...

Whoever put together the NYT list of most influential magazine covers entirely overlooked city mags.

The Feather Detective: How Roxie Laybourne Pioneered Forensic Ornithology You wouldn’t know it, looking at the tiny elderly woman in the white lab coat bent over a table in a halogen-lit government office, you wouldn’t know she had spent her youth doing scien…

The Feather Detective – how Roxie Laybourne pioneered forensic ornithology www.themarginalian.org/2025/09/30/r...

Dudes cracked me up

Jeez talk about serendipity, from @washingtonpost.com review of Bobbi Brown’s new memoir.

nypl book of the day

The Feather Detective

Chris Sweeney

The remarkable story of the world's first forensic ornithologist, Roxie Laybourne, who broke down barriers for women, solved murders, and investigated airplane crashes with only a microscope and a few fragments of feather.

What a good cover from @science.org

If you're a fan of interesting nonfiction, learn more about Chris Sweeney's The Feather Detective, about Roxie Laybourne and the field of forensic ornithology, from our recent conversation about it at @brooklinebooksmith.bsky.social www.c-span.org/program/book...

12 Books to Read: The Best Reviews of August How Iran’s revolution shook the world, Matisse’s quest for light, a new generation of tennis champions and more.

Awesome to see The Feather Detective on this @wsj.com
Best Book Reviews of August list. www.wsj.com/arts-culture... If you're into #birds #mystery #history and #truecrime, this is a book for you.

The cover includes a picture of Laybourne surrounded by cabinets of dead birds preserved in a museum. She is shown as an older woman in blue suit with a serious expression. The birds are all colors from bright yellows and greens to red and blue.

Cracking the code of the feather barbules was the most important task she'd ever been assigned, the success of which could possibly save lives and make air travel safer for everyone. @cbsweeney.bsky.social, The Feather Detective. Fabulous book about Roxie Laybourne! #SundaySentence #Booksky #birds

She was a quiet bird expert. Then she was called to investigate a murder in Maine. - The Boston Globe A mild-mannered scientist, a brutal murder in Maine, and the birth of forensic ornithology.

The Audience Award!

Congratulations to @cbsweeney.bsky.social! 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 @bostonglobe.com

www.bostonglobe.com/2025/06/23/m...

❤️❤️❤️

She was a quiet bird expert. Then she was called to investigate a murder in Maine. - The Boston Globe A mild-mannered scientist, a brutal murder in Maine, and the birth of forensic ornithology.

"Her findings helped successfully prosecute murderers, poachers, and even a former grand dragon of the Ku Klux Klan, who tarred and feathered a civil rights activist."

Chris Sweeney for @bostonglobe.com: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/06/23/m...

This is so cool. A full-page review in @science.org!

My father died last week. He spent 26 yrs in the NYPD and had *many* stories. Him being among the first responders to John Lennon’s murder was among my favorite. I’d somehow never seen this illustration before his passing.

the covers of two books: The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century, by Kirk Wallace Johnson, and The Feather Detective: Mystery, Mayhem, and the Magnificent Life of Roxie Laybourne, by Chris Sweeney

mortal enemies

reverse heist movie where a single snake has to chase all the priests back into ireland

So awesome to see The Feather Detective on this!

New books this week explore why shade is so important, the first bird detective, and more New books published this week include a nostalgic graphic history of video games, a queer, complicated and hopeful novel set in Nigeria, and a biography of a forensic ornithologist.

New books published this week include a nostalgic graphic history of video games, a queer, complicated and hopeful novel set in Nigeria, and a biography of a forensic ornithologist.

So fortunate to work with the Audubon editors from time to time. Check out this stunning piece on some fun artifacts I came across while researching The Feather Detective (out today, plz order a copy!)

Deadly collisions: how airports try (and fail) to keep birds out of plane engines Bird strikes cause fatal crashes and cost airlines money. Experts have tactics for chasing away these errant fowl

Deadly collisions: how airports try (and fail) to keep birds out of plane engines

Deadly collisions: how airports try (and fail) to keep birds out of plane engines Bird strikes cause fatal crashes and cost airlines money. Experts have tactics for chasing away these errant fowl

While reporting out my book on Roxie Laybourne, I spent some time shadowing the guy at Boston Logan whose job is to keep birds out of flight paths. Excited to see it in @theguardian.com today and still thinking about how much it must hurt to get bit by an otter www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

👇 Pre-order discount for The Feather Detective (thanks @theliteratelizard.bsky.social )! If you like narrative nonfiction, women in science, true crime and birds, give it a go. I don't think you'll be disappointed. #birds #books #nonfiction

Incredible to speak with Scott Simon on Weekend Edition @npr.org about Roxie Laybourne and The Feather Detective. Listen here: www.npr.org/2025/07/19/n...

The blurbing process is pretty painful for many authors, self included. But it also allowed me to reconnect with the great Amy Stewart. So grateful so took the time to do this Q&A with me: amystewart.substack.com/p/the-feathe... #books #birds

If you live in the Providence area and like cool shit, including crazy bird-related disasters and crimes, come to Riffraff book shop next Thursday. It’s gonna be fun!

'The Feather Detective' caught murderers, solved plane crashes Chris Sweeney's new novel is about Roxie Laybourne, a trailblazer in bird research, which led her to take part in feather forensics work for crime cases.

A fun & incredible review of The Feather Detective in @startribune.com !“Sweeney’s simple, elegant writing makes the technicalities of Laybourne’s work easy to understand and the sexism she dealt with infuriating.
It also captures what a vivid, contradictory character she was”

👀 I spy The Feather Detective 👀

Yes! The Feather Detective makes the cut. How freaking awesome.

The fine folks at Elle name The Feather Detective one of the best books of summer and give it a stylish review. Yessss! www.elle.com/culture/book...