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

《羽毛偵探》呈現了一位女性鳥類學家以獨特的熱情、智慧與毅力，突破文化與職場限制，開創鳥類法醫學與自身精彩的人生故事。

蘿西・雷伯恩(Roxie Laybourne)是世界上第一位法醫鳥類學家，她以一架顯微鏡和幾片羽毛殘骸，突破了女性在科學領域的種種障礙，協助偵破謀殺案，並查出多起致命的空難原因。

1960 年，一架美國東方航空(Eastern Airlines)的班機從波士頓洛根國際機場(Boston Logan Airport)跑道起飛後不久，撞上了一群鳥，機頭朝下俯衝進波士頓港(Boston Harbor)的淺水區，造成 62 人罹難。當時正值商業航空的黃金時代，空中旅行奢華無比，而飛航安全對於其不穩定的未來至關重要。因此，美國聯邦航空總署指示將鳥類的殘骸送往史密森尼學會(Smithsonian Institution)進行檢驗，這些殘骸最終被送到了一位當時世界上唯一有能力解釋這一切的人的辦公桌上。

她名叫蘿西．雷伯恩(Roxie Laybourne)，一位身材嬌小但特立獨行的女性，戴著厚重的眼鏡，操著濃重的卡羅來納州口音，對鳥類充滿熱情。蘿西當時並不知道，這盒裝滿死鳥的箱子標誌著一段非凡科學旅程的開始：她成為了世界上第一位法醫鳥類學家，代表聯邦調查局、美國空軍乃至美國太空總署調查一系列的犯罪和災難。

《羽毛偵探》(The Feather Detective)這本書帶領讀者深入史密森尼國家自然歷史博物館(National Museum of Natural History)備受尊崇的後臺，講述一門新興科學以及開創它的神祕女性的故事。當她的男性同事們在動物標本製作方面進行全球探險並獲得豐厚晉升時，蘿西選擇與她的鳥類為伍。她僅憑藉顯微鏡和一些羽毛，就協助起訴了多起謀殺、綁架和盜獵案件。當她不忙著出庭作證或研究重大犯罪證據時，她也會協助航空工程師和空軍機組人員，在下一次災難發生前，分秒必爭地為飛機進行防鳥處理。

在《羽毛偵探》一書中，屢獲殊榮的記者克里斯．史威尼(Chris Sweeney)記錄了這位被忽視的先驅者驚人的生平與工作。蘿西曾離婚，也曾喪偶，有時還脾氣暴躁，但她打破了科學界對女性的刻板印象，也突破了界限。她的故事充滿了毅力與勇氣、執著與獨創性。作者史威尼借鑑大量的檔案資料、法庭文件和獨家採訪，生動而風趣地描繪了一位在人生與時代每個轉折點都勇敢突破文化與科學界限的女性，蘿西永遠改變了我們對鳥類，以及牠們留下的羽毛的理解。

“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

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.