This was a unusual story of a solitary women hearing voices, believing its her dead Mother and keeping dead birds in her freeze while she try's to find out while the birds are dying. it was hard to grasp and follow. I at first thought it was a book about a descent into mental instability. I am not sure of the plot but the main character definitely needed a therapist.

To be honest, I found this novel a bit hard to get into. The focus in the first several pages was mostly on the dead gulls in the water and not enough on the main character. I was left wondering for a long time (or it seemed like a long time to me) why she cared so much about the dead birds. Once I got into the story though, the plot moved along more quickly.

I'm really in two minds about this book. I liked Mandy but at times I got fed up of her. I liked the fact she talks to her dead Mum but disliked her obsession with her so called friend! At times I thought the book was quite boring.

Overall I enjoyed this book. Mandy, has left the city and rented a cabin on the northern coast of Lake Michigan in October. No tourists around, and she is hoping for some quiet reflective time to try writing. After the death of her mother she is trying to find some inner peace. One day she notices twelve gulls floating dead in the water, and she becomes obsessed with finding out why they died. I liked the mystery, I liked the relationship between her and Jackson, and his dog Doc. I liked the characters for the most part that surround them. What I didn't enjoy was the negative voices of an ex-friend who kept popping up in her head, and I didn't like the supposedly ghost voice of the mother talking to her through the keyboard. A little strange. I could see the point with the near drowning, but not just voices in the head. Made me think she should see a therapist instead of being a part of the story. The creepy guy in the woods, the strange DNR agent, etc. add a nice spice to the story. Would recommend this book.